Jack was out of his seat and bending over her, though not too close.

"Kels?" He concentrated on keeping his voice very soft and calm. "Kelsey?" He reached out and smoothed away a bit of hair that had escaped from her cap. "Hey." He smiled, hoping it looked better than it felt. With the hand that wasn't holding hers, he reached out and pushed the button for the nurse.

He could see her trying to swallow, and beginning to choke. He also saw her trying to flex her other arm, and he stroked it. "No, it's okay, you have a breathing tube in your mouth, that's what you feel, you can't take it out, the nurse has to do it, sweetheart."

Her eyes fluttered, growing a little wider. "It's fine, everything's fine, you were having trouble breathing, so the tube goes all the way down your trachea to help you breathe, and now that you're awake, it's going to make you feel choke-y, I know, so we'll get it out, okay? Okay?"

She nodded, the slightest of motions, squeezing his hand. Both of these actions made Jack want to turn cartwheels.

The door swung open and Dr. Okafor herself came in, followed by Kelsey's parents.

"She's awake, she's awake," Jack said, again, trying to sound calm. He knew that anything could make Kelsey cough and start to choke on the intubation tube. "She wants the tube out, I think," he added. He moved away so Kelsey's parents could be by her side.

"I'm sure she does," Dr. Okafor replied in that calm way that doctors the world over seemed to have. A nurse came in and took her place on Kelsey's other side, next to Kelsey's parents. Kiki, too, had come in, and now stood next to Jack.

"Kelsey?" She spoke in a raised voice that still somehow conveyed serenity. "Since you're awake, I'm going to remove the tube, all right? Now cough, it will come out easier that way. Nod if you understand me. Okay, good, here we go, now cough.

"Good, now, have a little water, not too much, good," the doctor continued.

Then Jack heard the magical sound of Kelsey's voice, very soft, barely audible, but unmistakably her. "Coach?"

"What?" Her mother leaned over, stroking her forehead.

"Coach?" Kelsey repeated.

Jack let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding as he stepped forward. "That's me," he said, as firmly as he could. "That's what she calls me sometimes.

"I'm here, Kelsey," he said, reaching for her hand, trying to ignore the disapproval of her parents. To give them credit, they didn't say a word, and simply stood aside, making room for him at her bedside.

But Kelsey was shaking her head, swallowing, coughing shallowly as she tried to say something.

"Shh, don't try to talk," he said, holding up her water bottle with the straw in it so she could take another sip.

But she was insistent, struggling to form the words, gripping his hands with remarkable strength, considering she'd just woken up from two days in a coma. She even managed to lift her head off the pillow a little bit.

"Oh god, what? Kelsey, what is it?" Jack looked intently into her gray eyes, which already looked clearer and more alert than ten minutes ago. "Is something wrong? Something hurts? The doctor is right here, tell her, Kelsey."

Kelsey shook her head again.

"Kelseylove," she whispered. She let her head fall back on the pillow, exhausted from her effort. She closed her eyes. "Or sweetheart," she added.

Everyone standing around the bed smiled, including Kelsey's parents. Jack wiped away a tear as he nodded. "Okay," he agreed. "Okay, Kelseylove, you got it."

Kelsey patted his hand, still keeping her eyes closed. She coughed again, and took another sip of water. Jack tried to let go of her hand and step away so her parents could spend some time with her, but she wouldn't let go of his hand. Everyone saw this, so he had no choice but to sit down in the chair next to her.

"Mike," she murmured, patting the other side of the bed, and Kiki's dog, who had been sitting at Kiki's heel, somehow heard her and understood her and obeyed, even though he knew that he wasn't supposed to be on this particular, scary bed with all the wires and scary contraptions next to it. He came forward and jumped up, lying down immediately, reaching out and giving Kelsey's hand one, delicate lick before laying his head down.

Kelsey reached her hand and set it on Mike's head, then appeared to go to sleep, one hand on the dog, one hand holding Jack's.

The doctor looked at Mike and laughed, saying, "Well, we're a private hospital for a reason, I suppose.

"Kelsey, we're going to let you rest for a bit, then we have to do some tests and ask you some questions, all right, dear?"

Kelsey gave a slight nod, but that was all.

The doctor and nurse left, and Kelsey's parents and Kiki pulled chairs up next to the bed and settled down. Jack wondered if her parents were going to want to talk, and hoped not. Kelsey didn't need to hear strife right now.

Thankfully, they didn't seem to want to make conversation, and the room was quiet except for the sounds of the equipment next to Kelsey's bed. Jack wondered briefly how they explained Kelsey's lack of anger toward the person who had supposedly caused this terrible thing to befall her.

A few minutes later, the door opened, and Ray stuck his head in.

Kiki rose to go outside to talk to him, and Jack saw before the door swung shut that Candy and her husband, whom Jack had never met, were also outside. He considered trying to release Kelsey's hand to go out and talk to them too, but decided against it. There was no need, he reasoned, and they'd surely already heard Phoenix's version of events from their son. And he didn't want to leave Kelsey.

Like before, Jack laid his head down on the bed next to their joined hands, and in a few minutes, he heard the door open as Kiki slipped back in. He felt Kelsey pull her hand out of his, and he began to lift his head, but he felt her place her hand on his hair, gently digging in with her fingers so she could feel his scalp with her fingertips. The sensation made him smile, and he actually drifted off into real sleep, possibly for the first time since this whole, awful ordeal had begun.

He woke up when Dr. Okafor came back in, calling out, "Hello!" in a brisk, cheerful voice. She was accompanied by a nurse.

Kelsey was awake, and even smiled, a small one, which made Jack feel like he could fly right out the window if he wanted. The medical professionals shooed everyone else out of the room so they could examine Kelsey, and run a few tests. While they waited, Kiki gave them a run down of what she'd discussed with Ray and Candy and her husband.

"As far as the movie, things aren't that bad," she began. "Of course they're three days behind now, that is to say they're three days more behind than they were. And they'll probably end up being a couple weeks behind before she's ready to go back to work."

Jack found it amazing that Kelsey had just woken up hours before, and they were already discussing when she'd be returning to work. She'd nearly died, after all. It seemed very cavalier, almost insouciant, to him. Welcome to Hollywood.

"This isn't that big of a deal, though, since most pictures go over on time, at least a little, and it's kind of built into the scheduling," Kiki was saying to Kelsey's parents, who were looking very concerned. Of course. Kelsey's father worked in some sort of factory, the idea of one person holding up everyone on a job would sound very bad to him.

"What about Rio?" Jack asked. Kelsey was supposed to leave for Rio in a few days.

"Right," Kiki said. "Robin got together with a couple of the writers, and redid something, and they're checking with the location scouts to see if they can make it work without going down there, and it sounds like they'll be able to. There wasn't any shooting that involved swimming, or the Olympic venues or anything, just some exteriors, you know? So it should be fine.

"As far as what happened to Kelsey," Kiki continued very deliberately, turning to Jack, but making sure that Bob and Annette were listening, "I think Candy suspects that Phoenix was less than forthcoming about all that. She didn't say anything specifically, but I think that was because Phoenix's dad was standing right there, you know? She didn't fall off a hayrick yesterday, and she knows you, Jack, she knows this isn't the sort of shit you'd pull."

Bob and Annette turned to Jack. "Son," Bob began, and Jack could tell that the couple had somehow already discussed what he was going to say. They had that quality that some married people had, that his own parents had, of being connected, of being a couple, no matter how much space separated them. "I know we said some very hurtful things to you, that we believed what was said to us for no reason than that we heard it first, and we're very sorry for that.

"We saw how our girl acted toward you in there, how she reached out to you first, and regardless of anything else, we know she wouldn't give her trust to someone who didn't deserve it," Bob continued, looking Jack in the eye.

"We're so very sorry, and our only excuse is that we were so worried for Kelsey," Annette inserted. "We hope that in time you can, if not forgive us, at least accept our apology."

Jack could also tell that they were finished with their remarks, that this was as far as they'd prepared, and they had nothing else to say.

They had turned away from him already when he spoke.

"Of course I accept your apology, Mr. and Mrs. Carlisle. We were all so worried about her, I understand that. And we might not be out of the woods yet, so it's probably best if we can all agree to move forward on amiable terms," Jack said, holding his hand out. Jack couldn't remember the last time he'd held out his hand as part of a sincere gesture of apology, but he knew he'd done the right thing when he saw the look of approval and gratitude in Bob's eyes.

"Thank you, son," he responded, taking Jack's proffered hand in a firm grip.

"And please call us Annette and Bob," Kelsey's mother offered with a small smile.

The door to Kelsey's room opened, and Dr. Okafor emerged, smiling.

"Everything looks remarkably good," she announced. "All neurological function appears to be intact, and, though there is some residual memory loss surrounding the actual event, I think that will return with time. She will be prone to nosebleeds for a time," she continued, looking at her notes, "but barring any unusual results to the tests we ran, I think she can go home tomorrow, all right?"

Jack sighed with relief, and Kiki bounded into his arms for a happy hug as Mike jumped around them.

"Can we go back in?" he asked.

"Of course," Dr. Okafor replied, smiling at Jack, Kiki, and Mike. "Just don't excite her or do anything that might cause her to laugh or shout, raise her voice or cough, you understand?"

Jack nodded and went in.

The cap had been removed, and Kelsey was sitting up in bed, looking so much like her old self that Jack almost started crying again. A lot of the equipment was gone as well, including the dreadful ventilator, which was wonderful.

Jack went right to her and sat, taking her hand, kissing the knuckles he loved so well.

"Mom, dad, I'm so sorry," Kelsey began, starting to choke up.

"No, now, you have to stop that right now," her father said sternly.

Her mother picked up the water bottle and held it so Kelsey could get a drink. "The doctor said you weren't to do anything that might aggravate your throat, and crying definitely counts," her mother admonished. "Don't worry, Miss Fancy Britches, it's not like we're not plenty upset with you," she continued. "It's just not something we need to discuss right now, okay?" She stroked her daughter's cheek. "Today we'll be happy you're still with us. We'll talk about how to keep you with us at a later date."

Kelsey just nodded. "Okay."

They all sat together in the hospital room, quietly enjoying the afternoon sun, which slanted long rays across her bed.