Unfortunately for Carly, Phil was now in the midst of a week long holiday, and wouldn't be back for a couple of days. Although it wasn't the greatest news she'd ever heard, she wasn't exactly in a rush to get back home, her statement about being frustrated at seeing Lee come in from work every day still very much an issue.

As a result, she decided to extend her stay in Pittsburgh. Mr And Mrs Johnson were more than happy for her to stay with them for a few more days and she also saw it as a chance to do a bit of sightseeing, something that she hadn't really done, despite living in the city for six months. First though, she had to call her husband and tell him about her new plans.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked her down the phone. His voice sounded like he was in the room with her, instead of thousands of miles away.

"I don't really have a choice" She sighed. "Phil seems like the only guy who's got any answers and he's not back for another couple of days"

"Why is it that in all my years of working in Pittsburgh, I could never get Phil to take a day off but when I leave, he finally decides to spend his millions on some crazy holiday?"

"Well there was that time we got him really drunk and he took a week off because of the embarrassment" Carly reminded him.

"A real highlight" Lee smirked, even though he was the only one who'd know it.

If Carly couldn't still hear Lee's breathing down the line, she'd have thought that he was no longer there; such was the length of the long silence that followed.

"How's work?" She finally asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

"Work is work" He replied, "No one's died lately but the place is a little gloomy without Nurse Sunshine" He joked, recalling a nickname he'd used to call her by. "I've actually taken on some overtime lately. Without you here I don't have anything to get home for so I've been doubling up as a nurse" He added.

"How ironic, considering how much you used to say how much better doctors were than nurses" Carly mused.

"They are, that's why I can fill in so easily" Lee sarcastically replied.

"Count yourself lucky that I'm so far away from you right now or your head would be through the wall"

"I miss you too" Carly could just imagine Lee winking at her.

After finally getting back onto serious conversation, they said their goodbyes and went to sleep.

Carly was up bright and early the next day though and got in a full day of being a tourist. She took in a variety of sights from "The Steel City" that included the Andy Warhol Museum, the Carnegie Science Center and the local zoo, with a plan to go on a trip to the Allegheny Mountains the following day. Despite the current cold temperatures and almost record levels of snowfall, she still wanted to go. She thought that the added layers of white would make it look a lot more breathtaking then it probably normally would. Carly had never been an overly active person so she was fully expecting to be exhausted when she finally met Dr. Davis upon his return.

*

Everything remained the same, yet everything was different.

Lee's daily routine wasn't all that different now that Carly wasn't around. He'd still wake up early and get showered and ready before work, before having a small breakfast and leaving the house. He took the same route there and the same route home every night. Instead of doing it consciously though, he felt like he was just going through the motions. A robot performing its tasks without any thought or feeling. Lee was an automaton.

He was reminded of his life BC. Before Carly.

He had no idea how he ever managed to do anything on his own. Life was so dull when you didn't talk to anyone. Even the sheer presence of knowing that another person was sharing your living space was special to Lee. Knowing that if things ever got too quiet, you could check up on them and see what they were up to. Or halving the household chores. Even their mess was a little comforting.

Lee had fully understood why Carly had extended her stay away but that didn't mean he was happy about it. He wasn't one for the big Christmas build up but he still missed her seasonal enthusiasm. Although it was handy not having to hide her presents anywhere.

It wasn't just his home life that had gone back to BC either. His attitude towards work was similar to days gone by as well.

Although he remained cordial towards his co-workers, he didn't make any efforts to socialise with them. It wasn't that he didn't want to, he just found himself unable to want it. Clearly Carly was his social enabler as well as his life partner.

Unsurprisingly Jack hadn't mentioned the current situation to him either.

His friends certainly did though.

"How have you not punched that guy in the face yet?" Mark asked him as he settled back into his chair after picking up another round of beers for himself, Lee and Charlie. Shinsuke was of course having another fruity cocktail that had some almost unpronounceable name.

"Have you ever known anyone to punch their boss and get away with it?" Lee asked.

"I know of one man" Shinsuke told them.

"You do?"

"He killed him actually. But then he just took over" He elaborated slightly. "Got away with it technically"

"Were you in the Yakuza or something?" Charlie joked.

"That's racist" Dr Nakamura muttered. "But he was in a gang. Boy from school. Not my friend"

"What a bizarre, and probably fictional, story" Mark shrugged. "Anyway, do you know when Carly is getting to come back to work?"

"No idea. He hasn't mentioned it yet and I'm not really stupid enough to ask" Lee replied.

"This is such horse shit!" Charlie cried, slamming his fist down on the table in the frustration, almost spilling the untouched drinks. "It's like a dictatorship. Who knew a hospital could be so toxic?"

As Charlie finished his question, a group of people strolled by and overheard, sending a mass of concerned looks towards the tipsy doctors.

"He didn't mean that" Mark assured them, although they didn't seem convinced as they backed off and out the door as if the hospitals apparent toxicity was chasing them.

"You would be terrible gangster. Never shut up" Shinsuke told the youngster, shaking his head at him.

"Speaking of gangsters, isn't that the hospital godfather over there?" Mark asked, pointing into the distance to break up the discussion.

With everyone's heads turned, they saw that in fact it was the Don Corleone of the hospital. Jack Hunter was sitting alone at a table in the deepest darkest corner of the bar.

"What the hell is he doing?" Lee asked, straightening up so that he could see better.

"Drinking, I assume" Charlie grinned, receiving what resembled a karate chop from Shinsuke.

"You're here a lot. You ever seen him here before?" Mark asked Dr Dawson.

"No, never. Doesn't look like he's seen us yet either" Lee also hoped he hadn't heard their conversation.

"Thank fuck for that. Can you imagine if he crashed guy's night like he did dinner?"Mark was now whispering also scared of being overheard.

"You did invite him, remember?" Charlie laughed.

"Yeah but he still wasn't meant to show up" Mark snapped back.

"Should we invite him over now?" Lee asked. "I mean, I know he's a dick and all but maybe that would help us win him over. You know, get him to lighten up a bit"

"I think he would be an angry drunk" Shinsuke stated before tasting the rest of his drink through his straw, the empty glass making a scraping sound as it was drained.

"Dr Japan's right. I ain't going anywhere near that son of a bitch" Mark said before finishing the rest of his pint in one sip. "Let's get out of here"

"Guy's its only nine-thirty!" Lee cried. Not only did he want to have some company while he was out, he mostly didn't want to go back to an empty house this early.

"Means I can get home in time for an episode of Gilmore Girls on Netflix before bed" Charlie shrugged, once again receiving worried looks from his superiors. "What? It's a great show" He shrugged again.

"I agree with the boys. I have work in an hour anyway and if Hunter see's me drinking this, he will think I'm wasted" Shinsuke shuddered at the thought. Although he'd only had one drink, everyone knew that Jack would lose his mind if he knew.

"He'd also think you were a woman trapped in a man's body" Lee joked.

"Be careful what you wish for" Nagatomo warned, even though no one really knew what he meant by that.

Lee tried once more to get them all to stay but his efforts were unsuccessful. He glanced over at his boss and saw that he still hadn't been spotted. Jack seemed more focused on staring into his beer bottle that was rapidly emptying.

Dr Dawson was all set to accept another lonely night at home before he was suddenly struck with an epiphany of sorts.

He didn't want to be running from his authority figure like a misbehaving schoolboy. He was a grown man and was too old to be scared of anyone, no matter how much power he held over him. And even worse, he thought, was this what everyone in Pittsburgh used to be like around him? Living in fear, afraid to approach him in case he snapped like a cornered animal? He remembered attending Dr Davis' party and meeting all these people that he didn't even know he worked with. How many times had he been in the situation that Dr Hunter found himself in now? Sitting alone, being spoken about in the distance by a group of doctors loathed him to the point that they had to run away before being caught dead anywhere near him, completely unaware of how much he was reviled. This wasn't the life for anyone.

The tipping point for Lee was that he knew if he never ever asked about Carly's return, there wouldn't ever be one. If he never asked Jack what his problem was, they'd never get over it. Carly had forced Lee to face his demons and he was eternally grateful, even if he hadn't been to begin with. It was time that someone did that for Jack too.

With one more look at his boss, who looked like a phantom, with only half of the bars dim lighting shining on him, Lee said a silent prayer and got up from his table.

*

Jack sat staring into his beer bottle that had been empty for as long as he could remember. He didn't know what had possessed him to come out tonight but he was regretting it now.

"I should have stayed at the hotel" He silently told himself.

Just as he was about to concede defeat on this particular evening, another bottle was placed in front of him, thudding as it touched down on the pine.

Jack looked up into the sympathetic eyes of Dr Dawson with an air of confusion.

"You look like you could use another" Lee smiled warily.

He didn't know how Lee knew, but he certainly wasn't wrong.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

So! I decided to save Phil's return for the next chapter as I had a better idea for structuring the story, hence why I took so long to get this posted. I hope that's ok with everyone!

Do we think Phil has the answers? And what the heck is gonna happen with Lee and Jack now!?

Please please please let me know any thoughts or theories! I love hearing from you guys and like I've said a million times, comments and votes are my favourite thing on here so feel free to send them my way!