His thumb went back and forth her knuckles, in an unconscious bid to ease her fears. Could he sense that she was afraid? Eden wasn't sure, for while his hand clung to hers, his eyes were fixed on the anesthesiologist who was administering the anesthesia. The movement of his thumb over her knuckles began to slow down, his head turning slowly until his eyes were fixed on hers, even as the drug began to take effect.

“Hey doc,” he mumbled, a small smile creasing his face.

“Hey, silly.” She smiled and watched as his eyelids slowly flickered shut, his thumb immediately stopping its movement.

Tightening her hold on his hand so it wouldn't fall carelessly to the bed, she gently lifted it to her lips and planted a kiss on it, before placing it by his side.

Eden waited until Mike was wheeled into the operating room, before making her way out of the ward. She was in the hallway when her phone chirped in her pocket.

Pulling it out, she frowned at the caller ID.

“Hey Phil," she murmured, trying not to sound as disheveled as she felt.

“Hey. Where exactly are you? The press briefing is about to begin.”

Suddenly feeling light headed, Eden paused in her tracks. “What?”

“I'm briefing the press on the Christmas party for the kids? I left messages on your machine yesterday telling you about it.”

Eden hadn't been home yesterday, and when she did get home that evening, the only thing she could bear to think about was Mike and their time together.

“I didn't check the machine, Phil.”

“Well, I'm down here in the lobby and everything is set up so you probably have about thirty minutes to get here.”

It was the last thing she wanted to deal with that morning; Phil or the press.

“You didn't tell me I would have to talk to the press.”

“No, but you're my Fiancée who is also a cool doctor that cares about kids and spend all her time trying to save their lives. Will you look good in the news? Yes. Will I look good in the news? Yes. Will we look good together, thereby making my campaign look good? Yes.”

Eden was suddenly annoyed, and greatly irritated. She wanted nothing more than to throw her phone across the hall and never speak to Philip again, but she convinced her overactive emotions not to take such drastic actions. She needed to do this for the kids —to stand before a bunch of cameras and break out a smile. She needed to not get upset about Philip's attempt and desperate means of winning the elections. She could understand that it was his lifelong dream to be Mayor, and if they were going to be married, she needed to support that dream. Besides, there wasn't anything wrong in getting a bunch of media coverage on an event that would help raise money for all the sick kids at Christmas, right? Because not only would it aid Philip's campaign, it would draw the attention of the public to the pains and sufferings of the kids and maybe even help to raise money for the medical bills of children whose parents were simply overwhelmed by all the costs.

Releasing a puff of air, she made her way to the elevator, and punched in the button of the first floor. True to his words, Philip had managed to set up a small podium right next to the Christmas tree. There were a bunch of people she imagined were part of his campaign team, working to set everything up.

“There she is!” He walked over to her with his arms outstretched, and as soon as he reached her, pulled her stiff form into his arms, his cologne assaulting her nostrils. “Hey.” He pulled away enough to capture her lips.

“Hey.” Gently, she untangled his arms from around her waist and stepped back, her head aching.

“So, what do you think? People are going to go crazy for this stuff, and I have you to thank for this wonderful idea!”

“Mike,” she murmured.

“What?” He frowned.

“You have Mike to thank for the idea, not me.”

“The janitor guy? What, are you hanging out with him now?” The frown on his face deepened.

“Is there a problem with it?”

“Absolutely. I don't want my Fiancée hanging out with some loser janitor! Do you know how that's going to reflect on me?”

Eden took a deep breath to calm her nerves. “No, Phil, I don't know how that's going to reflect on you. Are we done with this conversation?” She folded her arms.

“What? Is he a competition now? Is he supposed to be my competition?”

“Am I a trophy to be won? Is this supposed to be some kind of game to you?”

“We're not going to do this now, babe.” He stepped forward, pulling her once more into his arms and capturing her lips. This time, he kissed her for much longer than he had done the last time, knocking the air out of her lungs. When he pulled away, she could see a smile creeping up his face as he stared at something behind her.

Turning around stiffly, she was nearly blinded by the flashing lights of cameras; he had kissed her because he wanted the pictures to look good on the news.

His arm curled around her waist, pulling her body against his side. She fought to keep her legs from racing out of the room. Even if she did try to escape —she thought, his hold on her tightening— she would certainly be unable to escape the grip he had on her.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” he spoke with a clear baritone, commanding the attention of the press, “I would like to use this opportunity to introduce you to the woman of my dreams,” He chuckled, pulling her further against himself. “Also my Fiancée, Eden Parker, and right here, in this hospital, we're going to make every kid's wish for Christmas come true.”

As Eden stood trapped beside Philip while he sold the media on his idea for the children's hospital, her mind wandered to the operating room where a true hero was putting so much more than money on the line, he was putting his life on the line to save a kid's life. But these fancy people with their fancy cameras would never know, for they were too busy sucking up to the man in Armani suit, to pay attention to the man in an ugly grey overall.

~*~

Mike was too overwhelmed by the pain he was experiencing to keep his eyelids apart for long. He demanded the drugs that helped him fall asleep, and ultimately become numb to the pain, whenever his body was pulled out of its unconscious state.

Moaning softly, his eyelids finally drifted apart, pain bombarding his mind in that instance. He bit down on his lower lip and held his eyes tightly shut for fear he would howl in pain.

“Mike?” Eden. He could have recognized that voice in the dark. She touched his arm and he opened his eyes. “Hey.” Her beautiful face broke into a smile.

He reached out and ran a finger down the side of her face, right next to her ear and all the way to her jaw. She was certainly a sight he wouldn't mind waking up to every morning...

He mentally kicked himself for entertaining the silly thought. Not only was he not going to be waking up to her face every morning, he didn't have many mornings left.

“Four,” he finally said, withdrawing his hand.

“Fo- Four?” She cleared her throat, visibly flustered.

He nodded. “Four trees for Christmas. Right next to the lavender for cancer, there should be a tree for lupus as well.” Groaning, he clenched his teeth at the pain that rippled through his body. “That shit ain't playing. It deserves an entire forest!”

Eden laughed, and he tore his eyes apart just to catch a glimpse of her. She was in her usual scrubs, and her hair was pulled up in its usual ponytail. Still, she seemed even more beautiful than before he was injected. And the sound of her laughter —he thought, a smile tugging on the edges of his lips— made his heart swell with excitement.

His eyes drifted to her lips, regret washing over him for neglecting to kiss her that evening. However, their lips had made contact, and it had been the most wonderful feeling he had experienced in a very long time. Holding her in his arms, spinning her around, watching her flip her hair back and forth and sway her hips to the tune of the music, had been wonderful. Every second in her presence felt wonderful.

But it didn't matter. In twelve days, it wouldn't matter...

...Eden wouldn't matter.