Ticking clocks [attn: Owen, Torchwood Team]

Owen opened his eyes. "Lynne..." he whispered, before focusing enough to look at her. He didn't want her to see what had happened to him, but she had, and he was happy she had waited for him. He tried to smile, but he was in pain and the drugs were only taking the edge off of it.

Lynne smiled back weakly and made her way across the room, pulling a chair up to Owen's bedside. "Hey...how you feelin?" she asked gently. She wanted to take his hand, but she was afraid she'd hurt him; he looked different. Frail. It broke her heart.

"Hey...how you feelin?"

"I'm.. I'm okay... you should've seen the other guy," he joked weakly. His right arm and shoulder had been badly injured and were wrapped tightly to hold the stitches and keep the wound clean. He moved his left hand towards her. "You okay?"

Lynne smiled a little at Owen's attempt to joke and reached for his left hand, figuring if she did the reaching, he'd be less likely to hurt himself. "Yeah, I bet," she joked back as she took his hand gingerly.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine, babe, it's you I'm worried about...you scared the hell outta me; I thought I was gonna lose you," she admitted sheepishly, looking down.

Owen smiled when he felt Lynne's hand in his. He took a deep breath. "I'm glad you stayed," he said meekly.

"I'm glad you stayed,"

Lynne leaned forward and kissed his forehead lightly. "Where else would I be?" she asked softly. There's nowhere she'd rather be than here with Owen, except perhaps anywhere else in the world...provided Owen was with her. "Wherever you are, I am, until you tell me you'd rather otherwise," she added in a whisper.

Owen smiled and closed his eyes to the sound of her voice, squeezing her hand gently. "Never," he whispered almost inaudibly.

His smile faded as a thought occurred to him, and he reopened his eyes slowly. "Is... Do you know if Ianto's okay? We got split up, I don't know what happened to him..."

"Is... Do you know if Ianto's okay? We got split up, I don't know what happened to him..."

The question puzzled Lynne slightly and she furrowed her brow in response. He'd taken Ianto along when tracking something in the name of science?

"He's...fine," she responded. "He's in the waiting room. Calling Jack," she added, the latter statement coming out with a much more bitter sound in her tone than she'd meant to allow to surface. "He's fine," she repeated decisively. She would've liked to add that Ianto and Jack had seemed worried about him or that they were anxiously waiting to see him, but she'd have been lying, she felt, so she kept her mouth shut on both accounts.

Owen smiled, amused by the way Lynne had spat out Jack's name. "I see you've met him, then? Jack, I mean." he asked. "He's not a bad person... He just... doesn't understand people sometimes..." He looked forward and closed his eyes slowly. He winced slightly and pushed the button on the remote he'd been given to increase the amount of pain medication he was receiving.

"He's not a bad person... He just... doesn't understand people sometimes..."

Lynne forced a small smile. "Yeah, I met Jack," she said simply.
Felt more like he doesn't give a flying fuck about people, went left unsaid. "You okay?" she asked when she saw him wince. Lynne withdrew her hand from his and looked at him, eyes filled with concern, afraid that she'd hurt him.

"You okay?"

Owen opened his eyes and looked at Lynne. "I'm fine... It just..." he looked down at his arm and shoulder, "It hurts a bit." He looked back up at her and saw the look in her eye. "Hey, I'm fine," he said, offering as strong a smile as he could.

"Hey, I'm fine,"

Lynne offered a weak smile back and leaned forward. "You don't fool me, Doctor Harper," she whispered before carefully giving him a kiss on the lips.

Sitting back again, she looked down at her hands in her lap. "They said I can only be here for a little bit..." she told him. "That you need rest and stuff. But, I'm not gonna leave," she went on, "I'm calling off work and I'll sleep in the waiting room, so they can get me as soon as you're able and in the mood to have visitors again."

Owen smiled and returned the kiss as best he could. It felt like it had been ages since he'd last kissed her, and he appreciated the feeling of it. He thought about telling her to go in to work, that he'd be okay, she shouldn't worry, but he wouldn't have meant it. He wanted her to stay, he wanted to see her when he woke up, and a small part of him wanted her to worry, because nobody had in such a long time. He clenched his jaw and released it. "Yeah, well, you know how doctors can be," he laughed slightly. His face grew serious again as he winced slightly, pushing the button on the remote again. "I'll tell them to let you in when I wake up," he said, taking in a deep breath.

"I'll tell them to let you in when I wake up,"

What Owen didn't know is that he wouldn't have to; she wasn't planning on sleeping in the waiting room, no way. She'd just do what she'd done when her brother had been in the hospital to have his appendix removed. She'd pretend to fall asleep in the waiting room and then, when she heard the night orderly go off for a cup of coffee, she'd sneak into Owen's room and fall asleep in the same uncomfortable chair in which she was currently sitting. It'd be uncomfortable as hell, but she'd do it, anyway.

Lynne hoped, for her sake, that when the orderly found her in there, she'd have sympathy and turn a blind eye, the same way the orderly at her brother's hospital had done. It was worth a shot, anyway...the worst thing that could happen was they'd make her go back to the waiting room. ...as far as they were concerned, she was Mrs. Lynne Harper, after all.

Takinga deep breath, Lynne nodded and shifted uncomfortably in her seat as he winced again. "Should I let you get some sleep?" she asked quietly, looking down at her hands again.

On second thought, maybe Owen wouldn't want her to sneak in. Her brother had been afraid; had needed his sister's reassurance. They'd talked the plan out before-hand...it had been his idea. Maybe it would be pushing her luck with Owen if she tried it this time.

"If you want me to go so you can sleep, I promise not to let it hurt my feelings," she added with a small, playful smile that took far more effort than what it was probably worth.

Owen laughed slightly at Lynne. "I don't want you to go, but I do think I need some rest." He closed his eyes for a moment, before turning to her. "Thank you," he said, clenching his jaw again. "If you hadn't been out tonight, I..." He turned away from Lynne. He didn't want to say that he might've died had she not been there. It was too much.

"Hey..." she said gently, swallowing hard against the lump in her throat his unfinished sentence caused. "It doesn't matter. I was and I'm here." She touched Owen's hand gingerly to get his attention. "And I'm not going anywhere. Not until you make me," she joked feebly.

Part of Lynne ached to ask him if she could sneak back into his room; fall asleep in the chair, leaned over his bed with her head in his lap and her hand in his. She didn't want to leave him, but she couldn't get up the guts to ask, so if he needed sleep, then she needed to go. Taking a deep breath, she stood. "Get some rest," she said. The I love you caught in her throat and scared her too much to verbalize. She shoved the thought of it away and it was left unsaid.

Owen closed his eyes and nodded. "I'll see you, then," he said, smiling weakly. "I love you," he added softly behind her, before drifting off to sleep.

"I love you,"

Lynne froze in the doorway and looked over her shoulder. He'd already gone back to sleep and she closed her eyes, letting out a soft sigh as she smiled wanly back. "I..." she stopped and took a deep breath, shaking her head. She was fairly certain that even if he heard it, it probably wouldn't register, so she closed her mouth again and left the room, closing the door quietly behind herself.

She wondered if he'd even meant to say it. Probably not, she thought, but it made her feel like he'd maybe been thinking it, at least. Maybe she'd sneak in after the orderly left for a coffee or cigarette break, after all.

Feeling torn between elation and disappointment; comfort and fear, Lynne made her way back to the waiting room where she found, somewhat to her surprise, Ianto still sitting.

"He's gone back to sleep," she informed him. "And thanks for not blowing my cover," she added as she crossed the room and took a seat beside him.

Ianto was frowning as he sipped on a makeshift latte from the hospital canteen. Definitely not a good coffee. He nodded in Lynne's direction.

"It's not a problem, Lynne." He said with a polite smile, staring at the cup, wondering whether to keep drinking or toss it in the bin. "How is he?"

Lynne smiled a little at the way Ianto looked at his cup. "World's shittiest, isn't it?" she asked, nudging her shoulder against his in an attempt to make him smile. "I had two cups before you got here...between glasses of the most disgusting, stale water I've ever drank," she added.

Looking at the clock again, Lynne leaned back in her chair, sprawling out in a very unlady-like way. She was tired and hot - her leather jacket didn't allow much oxygen circulation and her tank top, covered in Owen's blood, had been discarded long ago. "He's okay. I think he's in a lot more pain than he's letting on, but he looks better...more color in his face," she replied. "Whose ass do you think I'd have to kiss to get a set of scrubs? This jacket is hot as hell..." she muttered. And the jean shorts were too tight to continue to be comfortable, but she kept that to herself.

"It is ridiculous to even call this a latte." Ianto said, disgusted, tossing the cup in the nearest bin. As Lynne asked about scrubs, Ianto remembered seeing the sign for a shop somewhere close.

"There's a shop in the upper floor, if memory serves me right." He said. "It's likely that you'll find a t-shirt there." He continued, smiling pleasantly.

Lynne smiled back at him. "Thank you," she breathed gratefully as she slumped further in the chair. "You stickin' around tonight or going home?" she asked. She unzipped the jacket a little - it had been zipped all the way up to her chin - and tugged at it to allow some air flow. She'd go try and get herself a shirt after Ianto left.