The more Harvey talked to colleague after colleague, the more tired he became, and the more he wanted to just go home. Not even to the hotel room, to his real home. To his top-floor penthouse where he could stare out his window and see patients in the hospital across the street. He would even settle for his office in the hospital where they'd recently replaced the old couch with a pull-out sofa where he could pass out when he needed to. All of this was oddly comforting when compared with the reality of what he was going back to tonight: an unfamiliar room that didn't smell like him with people he didn't feel safe with poking and prodding him and pushing every button he had to see what kind of reaction he would get. He couldn't bear the thought of another night of this after how awful the night prior was. He had almost cried multiple times out of desperation, frustration, and hopelessness. Right now he was doing these things by choice, but soon he would lose his voice and his ability to have a say in what happened to him. He would be on a feeding tube and a ventilator and eventually maybe everything would shut down, or maybe he would just stay in a coma until they decided to end his life for him. He wouldn't be making headlines anymore, he would just be a forgotten name from long ago, and when people visited his hospital they would ask who it was named after. These were all realities to him that were coming faster than his next breath, they taunted and ruined the time he did have. He felt as if he couldn't do anything but wait for death because of what he may leave behind if he lived even a little.

Coming out of his thoughts as he stood alone and empty-handed, Harvey's glance landed on Emilia, who he had noted still looked exquisite in that dress. He didn't particularly have a favorite color--or at least he hadn't until he'd seen her wearing that dress. But that wasn't what caught his eye, it was who she was talking to.

The man at the bar beside her was a cocky oncologist Harvey knew had a less-than-stellar track record with women, not to mention he was obviously well past intoxicated. Harvey generally considered the man classless, and the fact that he was so much as looking at one of his doctors--especially this one--had his blood boiling.

Without so much as thinking, he confidently strode over, making eye contact with Davis. His gaze was assertive, restored to his normal intensity, but pleading, saying let me rescue you.

"Doctor Reid," Harvey acknowledged, protectively placing his hand on the small of Emilia's back. "I see you've met my doctor."

There were no ifs, ands, or buts about it--Harvey had claimed Davis without hesitation. He was marking what was his for the world to see. While he rarely showed possessiveness, if there was ever a time to, it was now.

"Yes," the older doctor replied. He smelled pungent like whatever he was drinking, and Harvey swore he felt himself pull closer to Davis and the perfume coming off of her. "She's quite impressive. Intelligent, confident, beautiful-"

"She is," he agreed, a bit too fast. "And she's right here, but not for long. Can I have a word, Dr. Davis?"

Emilia had found herself talking to a few people that had made their way to or by her table. Those that were interested in the fact that she worked with Dr. Harvey, or just to make small talk. Though, there was one doctor that stuck around, for whatever reason.

Emilia was talking to a rather assertive man, he had made a point of ‘buying’ her drinks, even though she pointed out that it was an open bar, not that she refused any of them that were served to her. He had made it known that he was an oncologist, and a rather fantastic one at that. Or to him at least. Emilia let him talk for the most part, and it seemed that he liked that. Talking about himself. He asked all of one question to Emilia and that was ‘How are you tonight?’

Emilia gave the man who earlier introduced himself as Dr. Reid a kind smile, but anyone who actually knew her or spent any sort of time with her could tell that she wasn’t truly into the conversation with the man. She had blown through several drinks since she started talking with him, and that could very well be dangerous for her, as emotions and true feelings tended to come up when she was ‘tipsy’.

Before she knew it, Dr. Harvey had appeared by her side, interrupting whatever tangent that the doctor was on now. She didn’t realize, but she sighed, with utter relief. Thankful that someone was here to rescue her. No, she wasn’t thankful it was someone, she was thankful that it was Harvey.

A small smile appeared on her face when Harvey had claimed her. As his. Whether it was just as his doctor, or he meant something more, without intending to, she liked it.

“Dr. Harvey, nice to see you tonight.” Davis said, giving him a warm smile before the very well intoxicated Dr. Reid replied. Emilia took a sip of her drink while the two of them chatted and when Harvey agreed to what Dr. Reid said so quickly, she essentially choked on her drink. Picking up a napkin she wiped her mouth and looked up to Harvey with that warm smile once more.

“Of course, Dr. Harvey.” She said, picking up her drink and her purse, walking away with nothing more than a little smile to Dr. Reid, glad to be walking away from such a man and of course, curious as to what Harvey wanted as well.

Harvey's eyes sparkled with wry amusement at Davis' exaggerated reaction, escorting her out hurriedly. He wondered if he had been overprotective or controlling in his efforts to rescue her, but it seemed as though she was grateful for the assistance.

"I'm sorry about him," Harvey apologized. "I don't actually need anything from you, I just can't stand to see him patronize and use women." His eyes were clouded briefly, but he brushed it away, returning the sparkle to his eye that rarely showed. "I know you can handle yourself, but you looked miserable, and I was equally miserable on the other side of the room. It all worked out."

His expression turned serious for a moment, and he reestablished eye contact with Davis. He glanced over to where Jennifer and Kate were watching them like wolves.

"You need to watch your back," he muttered in a low tone, quiet enough that it couldn't be heard by others around him. "They're up to something. Kate wants me hurting, and Valart wants you gone. I'm worried."

With a small smile that anyone could tell was fake, he brushed past her, offering a small smile as he continued making his rounds. He hoped she understood that he couldn't afford to let the two women have anything substantial against them, that he had to put on a show just to keep things together. He realized that he probably owed her some sort of acknowledgement of the events of the afternoon, but he had forgotten in the rush of adrenaline it took to pull her away from Reid. He let the thought linger for another hour or so while he sleepily sat at a secluded table, at least until Kate showed up.

"Mason," she said curtly, sitting across from him at the empty table. His brow furrowed in anger.

"Dr. Harvey to you," he retorted plainly. "What do you need?"

"Charming as always," a sly smile came upon her face. "Oh, nothing..."

"Spit it out."

"Nothing. I just...have a surprise for you. A blast from your past you will love."

"Don't test me," he growled.

"Oh, I'm not. You'll see. Not yet, though."

Slyly, she exited, kissing his cheek on the way out which made him flinch and nearly attack her as he threw his stress ball across the courtyard in anger. Not long after, he rose and exited the gathering, Ethan following behind knowingly. Before long, he was back in the awful routine he had organized for himself, chock full of tests and procedures that pushed beyond human limits--beyond his limits. Through it all, his mind remained compulsively fixated on Kate and whatever she was scheming as well as the unshakable gut feeling that all of these twisted ploys somehow involved Emilia.

(This sucks and is super short and I'm sorry >.<)

Emilia smiled in a thank you for rescuing me kind of way. “Ah well, if I haven’t told you with my face enough, thank you for rescuing me.” She said, a kind smile on her face. “Though I’m slightly disappointed that you don’t need anything from me.” She said, flicking her eyes up from sipping her drink.

“Yeah, but Valart has wanted me gone since day one.” She said, glancing over to where Harvey was looking for a moment, then looked down picking at a loose thread on her small purse she was carrying around.

Emilia stayed where Harvey left her, keeping an eye on him and the rest of her team. The night was quite lonely, honestly, and she had wished that Harvey had said more to her than ‘watch her back.’ Which is something that she was doing since day one.

Emilia had kept an eye on Harvey out of the most of anyone the entire night, catching Kate hang onto him like she was claiming him made her a little more than irritable, and she decided that it was likely a good idea to leave things alone and go back to her room for the night, she just hoped that Harvey was okay.

--

When she got back to her room, Harvey's jacket was still perfectly folded on the chair, waiting for him to take it when he left earlier.

She sighed, changing her shoes into something more comfortable and grabbing his jacket, hoping he would be easy to find at the dinner party.

When she had gotten back down there, there were definitely less people, but alcohol was still being served, and there were small groups of people still lingering around.

Emilia didn't see Harvey anywhere nearby, but knew where he was staying and headed there, knocking softly on his door once she arrived.

"Okay, okay, I think that's enough," Ethan sighed nervously, watching Harvey's lifeless frame. Ethan was pale with worry, his eyebrows creased with concern.

"Gentlemen, please. STOP."

The doctors looked up in an annoyed manner, wishing Harvey hadn't gotten himself an advocate. They heard a knock at the door, another knock, and Ethan got up. The team of three doctors looked at each other, and Ethan got paler if at all possible. He was convinced it would be Kate, and he was terrified.

Opening the door slowly and only leaving it on a crack, Ethan peeked through and sighed a big heaving sigh of relief.

"Emilia, oh my God, I've never been so happy to see you."

Opening the door wider, he went out with her, the spare room key in his pocket. He saw her concerned look and felt relieved that Harvey had her--he truly was lucky to have someone looking out for him.

"He's fine," he reassured. "Let me explain it to you, just step out to the conference room with me? Don't want the other doctors hearing..."

He opened the door to a small conference room that sat on one end of the hall, shutting it as he slumped against the door.

"He asked the leading sleep research team to come in and work on him every night this week to try and find a cure, or at least some kind of information to further what we know. I'm sure he told you at least some things?"

He looked exhausted, pale, and nervous, more nervous than ever. Normally an easy-going guy, Ethan was very nervous and edgy.

"I'm there to be his advocate, that's why I came on this trip. But you've got to talk a bit of sense into him, he's in actual pain because of all of this." He sighed deeply, similarly to how Harvey always did, as if the weight of the world was upon him. "I've never seen him like this."

He glanced over to her, his jacket in her hand. He jumped to conclusions he shouldn't have jumped to, but nonetheless mentioned, "he'll want to see you. He could use the time away."

Leading her back to the room, the doctors glanced at him in bewilderment as he lead Davis in, knowing no one was allowed to know about this. Ethan gave them a pointed look back, explaining, "she already knows, she's his other person."

He smiled at her softly, leading her in. Mason laid lifelessly on a hospital bed they'd rolled in, surrounded by and attached to machines. Ethan slowly woke him up, explaining Davis was here. He mumbled something about not wanting her to see him like this, but Ethan just gave a knowing smile.

"Let's give them a few minutes and then we'll regather," Ethan assertively walked the few doctors out, despite looks of disbelief and anguish.

Harvey was breathing hard as he woke up, his heart rate rising rapidly. He was pale and damp with sweat from exertion, and tears rolled down his face. He was weak, too weak to get up, so he just moved his hand towards her gently, groggy and incoherent.

"Davis," he mumbled softly, more affectionately than he ever had.

(Sorry for the delay! Finally found some time though, and feel like this suuuucks.)

Emilia was still feeling the effects of the alcohol in her system, so perhaps it wasn’t the best of times to come to Harvey’s door, but it was likely better than any other time, really.

Finally, the door opened, and it was none other than Ethan’s face, strangely. Her brows furrowed, slightly confused why he would be there this late. Before she could ask any questions, Ethan started answering them for her.

Her brow raised at his words, “Why am I not surprised?” She said, a small smile crossing her lips. “Always working that one.” Emilia was going to say more, though was interrupted with a rather chatty Ethan interrupting her again.

“Ethan, slow down and just tell me what you need from me.” She said, a deep sigh coming out with her words. Her heart hurting at him telling her that he was in pain. She nodded when he mentioned that he would want to see her, and followed him into Harvey’s room.

After everyone left, she put his jacket over a chair and looked around at everything, wondering what exactly the doctors were doing to him. She knew that he wouldn’t want her in here, but she really didn’t care, now or ever. She sat on his bed softly, near him.

He looked exhausted, like he had just done about 60 laps around a track, for no good reason at all. Emilia waited until he could gain even an ounce of strength, which he seemed to need every little bit of, before she spoke to him, or he spoke to her, anything.

Finally, a word uttered from his mouth. His voice was weak of course, but tender and affectionate. A smile crossed her face.
“Mason.” She said, instinctively grabbing his hand, her touch soft, not wanting to cause him any more pain than he already seemed to be in.

It was odd to see this man whom she thought of capable of nearly anything, so weak and vulnerable before her in his bed. He was her boss, her mentor, and she looked up to him massively. Because of this she wanted to remain mostly professional, she automatically had put up a wall between them. However, it was getting increasingly difficult to not have that wall getting chiseled away at little by little the more she got to know Harvey.

She felt the weight of his hand in hers and it was automatically concerning. She had been staring at his hand until he said those words. Her eyes darted to his, and even more concern flooded her face. “Hey now, you can’t die before I’ve gotten a chance to take your place.” She said, a light amount of humor in her voice. It may have cracked in saying one of the words, but she really didn’t care. Anything to lighten the dark mood in the room.

Then silence filled the room once more. Emilia was unsure what more to say, what more she could do, how she could comfort him further. She wanted to say so much, but perhaps this was not the right time or place to do so.

Suddenly, Harvey was seemingly, well almost, himself again. He sat up and started to put himself together, not letting go of Emilia yet, and there were no complaints from her. Anyone who didn’t know him well would never be able to tell the amount of unimaginable pain he was just in.

Within a moment, her hand was free, and disappointment filled her chest, but didn’t show on her face at all. Emilia sat there in silence with him, as long as he wished, almost craving the feeling of his hand back in her own as they both sat in their own thoughts.

She lifted her head when he spoke, and some confusion crossed her face. “I guess I just don’t understand why.” She said, a small, almost unbelieving-type smile on her face. “You trust me with all of this, you trust me to be on your team, you trust me with so much. But you don’t trust me with what? The truth?” She said, looking over to him, not particularly letting him out of this one, as excuses have gotten them nowhere thus far.

“We’re both here now, so speak.”

The silence brewed between them for what seemed like hours. She stared at him yet he averted from her gaze. She watched him as he started to speak and then fell silent, his mind flooded with thoughts once more. It kept her wondering what else was on his mind, what else she was missing, what else he wanted to tell her, but couldn’t.

He rested one hand on his leg, his face occupying the other. After he spoke, she laced her fingers into the top of his. Even though he seemed to have so much trouble putting his thoughts into words, he was trying. “If anyone can figure out what to say, then I’m pretty sure you can.” She told him.

At the knock and Harvey’s flinch, Emilia took her hand back. The doctors quickly filed into the room and she got up, shuffling herself away. She got a glimpse of him through the group of people, wishing that they didn’t have to end their conversation there of all places, but there was really nothing that she could do, and the door shut behind her.

---

Emilia admired Harvey from afar for a moment before going to approach him, after he had passed out and been taken away, she had felt the need to stay and cover for him during the lecture. Another cocktail party had been tonight, but Emilia didn’t want to attend, and therefore was just wearing simple clothing, a bikini that was covered by a pair of jean shorts and a v-neck black tshirt.

She gave a slight smirk at his question, leaning on the railing next to him. “Nothing worth sharing.” She said, picking at her fingernails out in front of her. She reached over and gently grabbed the bottle of scotch from his hands without asking, taking a drink and then giving the bottle back to him. “But if you want details I’ll need more of that.” She told him, with a deep sigh. Emilia glanced at his head, seeing the bruise already forming from where he had fallen. She wanted to reach out and stroke the hair away from it gently, but the rigid way he was standing kept her from doing so.

She listened as he exhaled and spoke again, but the words that came out was not what she was expecting. Or maybe hoping for. She looked out and stared upon the moon that seemed to be resting upon the sea, a beautiful sight really, yet the scene beside her was quite gloomy.

Her ears tuned more into him as he asked her to do something for him, as this didn’t sound like a work request. This sounded like another kind of request. They still hadn’t looked at each other.

She listened to his request and of course would honor it, but would do much more than that. Finally she turned to him too. “I don’t want to remember you just the way you are tonight. I want to remember you when you smile, if I ever get to see that. I want to remember you when you’re solving a difficult case with our team, and I want to remember you the way you were in the room the other night, I want to remember you here, the way you are tonight, and I want to remember you in every other way humanly possible, Mason. You can’t ask me just to remember you in one way, because I want to remember you in all of them.” She told him, moving closer to him, one of her arms resting on the railing, the other at her side.

Truly, he couldn’t ask her to remember him in only one way, and forget everything else, as that would be impossible for her. “I don’t think today is the day you stop living. Today should be the day you start living.” She said to him, softly.

(This ended weird but I had a WHOLE thing typed and it got DELETED somehow and it was SO much better and I'm still upset. Anyways sorry for the long delay and hope you enjoy xD)