Three days of downtime tracked along nicely, giving Isabelle the time off that she needed so that she could rest and get up to date with her study days and other chores she had been putting off. Which she still put off by making bread. Mel hadn't complained because she lived for the smell of bread but Isabelle loved to bake and the house was starting to turn into a small bakery with the amount of food she was making.

Mel, much to Isabelle's relief, had been able to arrange her shifts to match Isabelles. It hadn't taken much convincing because Mabel was soft on the two of them. She was made partially aware of the situation and agreed that safety came first. None of the other nurses had contacted them to complain but that didn't mean Mel was going to get of easy with Danika and co.

Stepping into her scrubs, Isabelle grabbed her car keys as Mel grabbed their coffees and the two of them made their way to the car, both of them too tired to talk. The first day back after a weekend was always the hardest, especially when it was a six thirty am start. That usually meant getting up at four thirty to have showers, eat something, and leave so they would be on time.

The good thing about morning shifts, Isabelle thought, is that there's nobody around except nurses at that time. No visitors, no doctors... Just nurses. Made finding a car park alot easier.

Mel snorted to herself when they pulled into a car park, a smile on her face as she sipped her coffee.

"What?"
"I saw the best joke this morning. Why do leprochuns giggle when they play football?" Isabelle opened her car door and raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"
"Because the grass tickles their balls." Mel burst into laughter as she said it, wheezing as she did so. Isabelle couldn't get out of the car because of how hard she was laughing. Mel snorted which caused the two of them to laugh even more, completely unaware of the concerned looks some of the other nurses were giving them as they exited their own cars.

"Oh hell, that's hilarious."
"It's the best. Thanks Facebook for that gem." Mel wiped a year from her eye as she calmed. "Now we gotta go, girl. We can't be late. Mabel might actually hang me if I'm late."
"No she won't." Mel paused.

"You're right. She'll just like me less and give me a patient I don't like." The two exited the car, grabbing their handbags as they did so. Isabelle locked the car and they made for the hospital, walking in time as they went.

When they reached the elevators, Isabelle turned to Mel.

"So we'll meet back here when we're done, right?"
"Right. And you'll let me know if you're going to be late."
"Right. Thanks so much, Mel." Isabelle pulled her friend into a hug, careful not to get a mouthful of thick brown hair. Mel squeezed her back.

"Any time, my friend. Any time. Now have a good shift!" Isabelle grinned as she got on the elevator, watching Mel disappear into ED. With a sigh, she pressed the button that would take her up, ready to begin her day.

*********

"You just need to encourage his oral intake. The doctors will be into review the chest drains at about eleven o'clock so they might take one out today, they might not." Danny shrugged as he passed Isabelle the folder with Sweets notes in it. She nodded and rubbed her eyes.

"Uhm, wound dressings?"
"Changed in the PM shift. If it seems like it's oozing, they change it but they seem to have been doing it every PM shift."
"Cool, thanks Danny."
"No problem. Have a good one." Isabelle turned on her chair as Danny turned to the computer, finishing his online notes for another patient. Opening the file, Isabelle let out a puff of air as she saw the messy scrawl of the doctors notes.

Chewing her lip, she pushed the file away from her and stood up, grabbed a pen from in front of her and made for Sweets room, deciding that checking on him before she had the headache of a life time was better than seeing him when she was trying to cover up her crankiness.

As she approached his room, she saw that the light was on and when she looked through the window, Sweets was awake and focused on the TV, his gaze intently following the characters movements. Knocking lightly on the door, Isabelle announced herself without giving him too much of a fright.

"Well well well. It's nice to see you're up and awake at this time that should not exist." She grinned. Sweets gave her a small wave.

"Hi... Yeah, I couldn't sleep so I started watching this show. I'm not sure what's happening but I think his brother just died." Isabelle peeked at the TV and gave a light laugh.

"That's Home and Away and I did not realise you guys got that here. And wow this episode is from a while ago." She snorted. "I'm not sure you remember me, so I'm-"
"Isabelle Montgomery, the nurse who has helped take care of me since I arrived. Yeah, I know." Isabelle nodded, still smiling. "Hannah and Booth talk about you like you're Superman."
"I prefer Captain America but I'll take it." Sweets laughed and muted the TV and motioned for Isabelle to sit down. Taking up the seat closest to the bed, Isabelle leaned back and scanned his face.

"How are you feeling, Doc?" He shrugged.

"I feel... Sore. Tired."
"But you can't sleep?"
"Yeah. It's annoying because I really want to sleep but my body won't let me." Isabelle pulled a face.

"I know that feeling. It sucks major Donkey Kong when you're so exhausted that your body goes 'Nah, I don't need sleep.'" Sweets laughed again, slightly harder than before but that made him grimace. Isabelle leaned forward, concern etching it's way on to her face.

"What hurts most when you laugh?"
"The bullet area. And where these pipes are sticking out of." He motioned to both the drains are ok either side of him.

"I can imagine. Does it hurt just when you laugh?" Sweets shook his head.

"When I breathe, talk, laugh, sneeze... Mostly when I sneeze. I feel like someone shoved my lungs into a blender when that happens."
"Do you want something for the pain?" He shook his head.

"I'll be fine. It passes." Isabelle's kind expression made Sweets look down.

"Doc, you can accept pain relief and nobody will judge you, if that's what you're worried about. We all have pain and we are all allowed the be relieved of it." Sweets met her gaze and nodded, reluctantly.

"It's not embarrassment, I promise. It's just that, it reminds me that I'm alive." Isabelle reached out to sqeeze his hand and he smiled gratefully.

"I can tell you that you're alive. Because it you weren't then I would have to call Ghostbusters." They both grinned. "Look, I'll go grab some pain relief for you, then I'll take some obs and let you rest for a bit. Then the doctors will be coming around and I'll be back." Sweets nodded.

"That sounds good."
"Good. I'll be back in a jiffy, doc. Just you see." Isabelle stood up and was at the door when Sweets said,

"You can call me Sweets. Or Lance. You don't have to call me 'doc.'" Isabelle turned.

"What do you prefer?" He paused for a moment.

"Sweets." She nodded firmly and saluted him, cracking another smile.

"Aye aye, Sweets it is." She slipped out the door and into the med room, grabbing the things she needed in order to keep her patient more comfortable.

When she returned to the room, the tv was still on mute and Sweets seemed to be waiting expectantly, a glass of water on his hands. Isabelle smiled.

"I just like to be ready, okay?" Sweets defended and Isabelle said nothing, electing to give him his medication instead of saying anything. He downed it instantly, eager for the relief to kick in.

"So, Isabelle, where are you from?" He asked as she started writing down information from one of the many screens around him.

"I'm from a little place at the bottom of the world called New Zealand." Sweets face lit up.

"That would explain the funny accent."
"I don't have an accent, you Americans have an accent." He snorted.

"We, do not have an accent. You most certainly do."
"Are we really going to have this argument so early in the morning?" Isabelle raised an eyebrow and he shrugged.

"I don't know but if it means you stay and keep me company, I'm happy to argue the point." Isabelle laughed, shaking her head.

"You're a smart one, aren't you? Lemme tell you what. Give me ten minutes to get all this in to the computer and read some notes that I need to catch up and then I'll be back."
"Promise?
"I pinky swear." She offered him her pinky, which he took and they shook on it. "Tell me what I miss when I get back, okay?"
"Okay."

Sweets watched her leave the room, satisfied that he had earned himself some company. He loved his friends but he desperately wanted someone to talk to who wasn't aware of every inch of his personal life. Isabelle was the most engaging AND interesting of the nurses who had cared him over the last few days.

She had been there when he woke up and been the voice that had spoken to him when he was asleep. He was appreciative of her. Talking to her helped.

Beside him, his phone buzzed on the table. It was a text from Gus, with a picture attached of Christine holding up a very colourful sign saying 'GET WELL SOON UNCLE LANCE.' Sweets smiled. Christine was missing a tooth now, making her look even more cheeky than before.

Putting his phone down, Sweets turned the volume of the TV back up and continued watching the show, not totally interested but vaguely intrigued.

********

"Snap!." Isabelle was sat with a table in between her and Sweets, the two of them playing a mildly violent game of Snap. And by mildly violent, she had to clear the table because of how hard they were slamming their hands down on the table, Sweets surprisingly hard and fast for someone recovering from a coma and a serious bullet wound.

"Damn that was fast. Okay so any siblings?" Sweets asked.

"One. My twin sister Arielle. She is older than be my thirteen and a half minutes and likes to rub it in all. The. Time." The game of Snap and also turned into a get to know you game as well. Loser asked a question, winner had to answer.

"Eish, I have no siblings so I have no idea what that's like. Although I've had the opportunity for familial siblingship in the past, I'm glad it didn't work out." Isabelle pulled an apologetic face and he shrugged.

"Look, you can have Arielle. For free. She's a real ratbag but I love her. But you can have her. Free sibling up for grabs!" They had been at the game for at least two hours now. In that time, Isabelle had also done more needs for him, changed his oozey wound dressing and spoken to the on call house officer. The doctors were happy with Sweets stable condition and were looking at taking the left drain out in the evening, due to the fact if had stopped draining fluid completely. Isabelle had changed it but it was still doing nothing. Walkin would make the final decision but she was confident it would be removed.

"Okay, let's go. Let's do this." Sweets squared his shoulders back, prepared to do another round. Isabelle giggled and wriggled in her seat, getting herself more comfortable. They started the next round his as a cacophony of voices came outside the door. Isabelle looked up just as Sweets yelled snap, a triamphant, "Ha!" coming from him just as Walkin opened the door to see the two of them in the middle of a card game.

"Doctor Sweets, it's good to see you're awake and.. being entertained."
"It was more of a two way street. We were both being entertained." Isabelle shrugged.

"It's true. The good news, Walkin, is that Sweets here, is stabilising and his obs have baselined. And the other good news is that he is very good at card games and even taught me to play poker. But I still don't understand the rules. Or how to play it." Walkin blinked a few times, looking between the nurse and patient before shaking his head.

"Miss Montgomery, if you will allow me to do my assessments, I will be out of here faster."
"Yes sir." She stood up and when Walkin wasn't looking, she turned to Sweets and pulled a face. She saw his mouth twitch as he hid his reaction but she knew it had made him laugh.

Moving the table and her chair, she created a space wide enough for Walkin and his ego to crouch in. He inspected both the drains and questioned Sweets. Isabelle assisted where she could.

"Very well. We'll be able to remove the drain on your left side today, Dr Sweets and then possibly by Friday, should be able to remove the other one if it's not draining."
"That's great. That's actually really good, thank you Dr Walkin."
"My pleasure. Now I'll leave you in the hands of Miss Montgomery." They both thanked him and watched as he left.

"Thats really good. I'm very impressed with your progress, Dr Sweets." Isabelle said as she sat down. Sweets himself was beaming.

"Now all I have to do is pull my right lung together and I'm one step closer to going home." Isabelle smiled and nodded.

"That's true. I'm proud of you." Sweets rolled his eyes.

"Thanks mom."
"You're welcome dear." There was a slight pause before the two of them started laughing, this time Sweets didn't need to hold his recovering wound because he didn't even notice the pain.

"Okay, okay. Because you won the last round, favourite song?" Isabelle said as she sat back in her chair. Sweets didn't even hesitate before he answered.

"Put the Lime in the Coconut." Isabelle groaned, eliciting a laugh from Sweets. "It's a great song!"
"Sure."
"It really is!"
"Never seen the appeal."
"You need to listen to it more." Isabelle shook her head just as the house officer walked in, ready to talk to Sweets about the removal of the drain.

"I will never." Sweets smiled at the doctor but looked at Isabelle and shrugged.

"Never say never."