..oOOo.. 10:22 am Friday Byers drifted in and out of restless sleep throughout the night, at one point waking to once again find himself covered with a blanket by a caring nurse. He smiled at that, realizing the staff was treating him as a patient almost as much as they were treating Langly. Glancing up from the book Frohike had brought for him to distract himself, Byers smiled as Scully entered the room with a polite, questioning look. "Good morning, Scully," he greeted her pleasantly. "Come on in." Handing him one of the cups of coffee she brought in with her, she returned his smile along with a surprised raise of her eyebrows. "Hello, John. You’re certainly in a good mood; is there any change?" she moved to stand near Langly, absently stroking his arm in an unconscious soothing action. "Not really, but he’s definitely improving. His temperature’s up to normal and everything else looks very good. Hasn’t woken up yet, though," he said with a hint of concern. "Oh, and thanks," he added, sipping his coffee, then setting it on the table. "You’re welcome. Don’t worry too much, John. With the shock his system took, it’s not unusual for it to take a while for him to come out of it. Just need to give him time," she assured him with a gentle pat on the shoulder. She moved the second chair from its place next to the wall to set it next to Byers, then sat with him. She caught a small movement out of the corner of her eye, and glanced down to where Byers was fidgeting absentmindedly with his hands in his lap, staring into space. She noticed something catch the light, and for the first time saw the silver wedding band on his finger as he twirled it around. ‘Wedding ring?’ she thought to herself, her curiosity winning her over. "John?" "Hmm?" he glanced at her, as if coming out of a daydream. Scully reached down to take his left hand gently, pointing out the ring. "I never noticed you wore a wedding ring before..." she stated, hoping he would follow her unspoken question. He looked at the ring and a fond smile curved his lips. "Oh... yeah," he said quietly. "Little over a year ago I asked Ringo to marry me..." "Married?" she couldn’t hide her astonishment. Byers blushed, and nodded. "It’s not a legal marriage; just something for the two of us." He reached over to take Langly’s left hand, turning it over for Scully to see the ring’s companion. "John, I had no idea...that’s really special," she said, sounding like she was on the verge of tears. "What...I mean, if you don’t mind me asking...what happened?" He grinned, and leaned forward to take Langly’s hand in both of his. He looked at their hands, lost in the memory. "I took him to this cabin we’d rented, and asked him if he would be my husband." He gave a little breathy laugh and shook his head. "The look on his face...I’ve never seen him so happy, or so surprised. He couldn’t even say anything for a minute, then finally blurted out, ‘Of course!’, like it was the dumbest question ever. Like he had absolutely no doubt in his mind that he would be spending the rest of his life with me." Scully thought about this, wondering if this was her place and deciding that as their friend, it was. "Because he *has* no doubt, John," she stated softly. "He loves you very much and you’re both very lucky to have such a strong foundation." Byers looked at her in wonder. Sitting back, he swallowed hard and crossed his arms over his chest. Slowly, he nodded. "Yeah, I know. I just..." he waved a hand toward the other man. "With this happening, and everything..." "What happened to Ringo shouldn’t have, and you can’t let it come between you." He shook his head sharply. "No, it’s not that. I mean...it is, but... it’s more complicated." He took a deep breath, his lips tightening in contemplation. "Since I’ve been with him, I’ve made a lot of personal decisions, ones we never talked about. Like, the fact that we would never be fathers, either of us. I already knew that was something I had to deal with, but it’s my choice. I want to be with *him*, and not have to think about what that means we have to give up. Until this, it’s never been an issue." He paused, his eyes fixed on his lover’s tranquil face. "He told me the day before he...collapsed, that he wanted to do this. He wanted this pregnancy to be real, and to have a child with me. He wanted to do it for *me*, not just us. He thought I wanted to be a father, and in some ways, yeah, I guess I wanted that too. But I told him it wasn’t worth risking his health to do this; even before we found out he was right about the baby. I just don’t know what to do now, Scully. I don’t know what to say to him after all this." He finally looked at her again, his expression so lost. "I don’t know either, John. This is something the two of you need to talk about, and you may never come to a complete understanding. But I know that you two are as close as any couple can be, and if anyone can work this out, it’s you." She gave his hand a gentle squeeze, a silent reminder that she truly did believe her own words. He held her gaze, finally breaking a small smile. "Thank you, that really means a lot," he told her very quietly. The agent opened her mouth to respond, but a soft, unexpected whimpering sound stopped her short. Both her and Byers’ heads snapped back to look at Langly, the source of the sound. Byers’ gasped audibly when he saw Langly’s fingers twitch, curling just a little and seeming to be searching for something to grasp and ending up with a fistful of his own blanket. The older man automatically took that hand in his own and held it tight, anchoring his lover in the outside world. The sudden, wonderfully familiar touch seemed to be exactly what the younger man was looking for, the slight, confused crinkle in his face smoothing again as he gave the hand a weakened squeeze in his sleep. The older man felt it and a brilliant smile lit his face as he glanced at Scully. "He knows it’s me; he can feel my hand," he exclaimed excitedly. He turned back to give Langly his full attention again, reaching his right hand up to gently run the backs of his fingers down the younger man’s cheek. Langly gave a soft, sleepy sigh and leaned into the caring touch. Byers leaned in close to press a gentle kiss on his forehead. "Shhh, it’s okay...sleep; I’m not going anywhere." The familiarity of the soothing voice comforted him and he settled back into peaceful sleep. Byers let his hand rest on his lover’s cheek for another moment before drawing back from the once-again sleeping figure, but not letting go of his hand for anything. He turned again to see Scully smiling at him. He realized he still couldn’t get rid of his own excited grin. "This is a good thing, right?" She laughed lightly and nodded. "Yeah, John. It’s a really good thing." ..oOOo.. Scully decided to stay with the men the rest of the day, calling AD Skinner to tell him she was seeing to a personal matter. Her boss’s almost pleased tone made her smile; she knew he liked seeing her taking time away from the bureau when she could, not putting herself or her child in danger any more than necessary. She left briefly to get them lunch around mid-afternoon, and when she returned found Byers smiling excitedly again. Handing him his food, she asked, "Did I miss something?" Thanking her, he nodded a little. "He started looking for my hand again a while ago, and was mumbling a little. I think he’s starting to come back." "Sounds like it," she agreed. They ate together, and Scully asked more about their relationship. She couldn’t help but smile at the sincerity and obvious passion with which he spoke of their bond; she had never heard him speak so openly before about anything not related to computers or conspiracies. It was a little after four in the afternoon when Langly started getting restless again, and Byers instantly took his questing hand. "Ree? You gonna wake up this time? Come on, give me a sign here." He brushed lightly at the silky strands of hair that fell along the younger man’s temple, urging him to come around. Langly mumbled under his breath, turning his head into the touch. "Come on, love. Open your eyes. Look at me, please," Byers continued to gently prod him. Apparently hearing him, Langly’s eyes slitted open just a little, a hint of light blue shining through his long lashes. He closed his eyes again quickly, the brightness of the light unbearable after so long in the darkness. "That’s it, baby," Byers squeezed his hand enthusiastically. "Can you talk? Say something, let me know you’re really with me." Langly swallowed hard, grimacing against an obviously dry throat. He opened his eyes again, blinking rapidly to try and focus on his lover. "...hi...J’on," he whispered haltingly, attempting a weak smile. Byers released his breath with an overjoyed laugh, his eyes bright with tears at finally hearing Langly talk to him again. "Hey, love," he said softly, his fingers still running lightly down the younger man’s cheek. He glanced back when he remembered Scully was still there, the agent watching them anxiously. Turning back to Langly, he met the half-closed, drug-dulled blue eyes steadily. "You think you can stay with us for a little while? We need to tell Dr. Larson you’re awake, so she can check you out, okay?" Langly blinked, his tongue darting out to wet his dry lips. After a moment of considering this, he nodded slowly. "...think so..." he said hoarsely, glancing down at Scully. The agent nodded, standing quickly to go find the doctor. Byers watched as Langly looked around slowly, taking in his surroundings. After a moment he looked back at the older man questioningly. "Um, you’re in the ICU," he answered the unspoken request, realizing that he would have to tell Langly about the baby soon. He just didn’t know how yet. It was still hard for him to deal with alone; he had no idea how his lover would take it. The younger man nodded once, and swallowed again. "...how...long?" he asked weakly, visibly struggling to follow along. "You’ve been unconscious for about thirty-two hours," Byers explained gently. "...damn..." Langly hissed, very little sound behind his word. Before he could ask anything else, Scully returned then with Dr. Larson on her heels. The doctor immediately went to Langly’s other side and checked the monitors quickly. She looked down at Langly with a relieved smile. "Welcome back, Ringo," she said, her hands moving to check him over, touching his throat and confirming the soreness. Scully handed Byers a cup of chipped ice, seeing Langly’s discomfort at the doctor’s inspection. Byers took a piece from the cup and held it near the younger man’s mouth. "Here, this will help," he said, and Langly obediently took the ice into his mouth, letting it melt and soothe his throat. "Thanks," he smiled shakily before looking back to the doctor. "How do you feel? Any pain, dizziness, nausea?" "All of the above," he answered honestly. "...hurts." "What hurts? Your back, stomach?" she reached to gently probe his still sore abdomen, causing him to wince painfully. "Yeah," he grunted through clenched teeth. She reached for the pump on his IV and placed it in his hand. "We’ve got you on Demerol, and you can hit this whenever you need to," she explained. "I know you are uncomfortable right now, but the catheter needs to stay for at least another day to monitor your kidney and bladder function. "Try not to move around to much yet," she cautioned him. "When the surgery turned into damage control, we had to put in quite a few stitches, inside and outside. There’s an incision in your lower back next to your spine that is probably what’s hurting you most right now. It’ll improve as you heal, but for at least the next few days you need to avoid too much movement." He nodded vaguely, his eyes clouding with confusion. "...surgery?" he repeated, as if unsure he had heard right. Larson exchanged a glance with Byers, who frowned. "You remember what happened yesterday, Ree? When you got sick?" Langly thought for a moment, then shook his head vaguely. "Not much," he replied. "...remember...pain..." Byers drew a sharp breath, and looked across to Larson. "Um, can you give us a few minutes?" he asked in a strained voice. "Of course," she said, understanding what he needed. Time to talk to his lover alone. "I’ll be around if you need anything." Both women left and Byers suddenly found himself alone with Langly, the younger man watching him curiously. He felt his stomach start to swirl dangerously as he contemplated his next words. "Ree, you collapsed yesterday morning, and you started bleeding. A lot. They took you to surgery and had to figure out what happened. Larson said you lost a lot of blood and went into shock." He paused, knowing it was time for him to say the rest. "She also said she figured out why this happened to you." He tightened his grip on the other man’s hand, needing the support of the simple contact more than ever. "They found the start of a fetus when they were fixing you up, near the prostate. She still has no idea how it happened, but you were right the whole time...you really were pregnant." Langly gave a choked gasp and turned his face to the ceiling, closing his eyes tightly. "...god...John..." he whispered, a tear rolling down the side of his face and disappearing into his hair. Byers felt his own throat tighten considerably, reaching his other hand up to brush away the wet trail. "Shh...it’s okay, you’re okay now," he comforted him, but knew his words were meaningless as soon as he said them. The younger man shook his head as much as his weakened condition allowed, fighting the pull of the pain medication. "No... J’on...s-sorry," he struggled to hold onto consciousness. "Sorry? Ree, what--?" "J’on...’m so s-sorry..." his voice was barely audible and he was fading fast. "For what, love? You didn’t do anything..." Byers stroked his cheek, feeling helplessly confused by Langly’s reaction. Langly fought to open his eyes just enough to look at Byers again before he gave into the medication putting him to sleep. "’M...sorry...I lost it...lost our baby...." ..oOOo..