Beatris opened the door slowly and walked in to see Norman lying peacefully on his bed, his eyes were open but the oxygen mask on his face was getting in his way of speaking with Leonard who was sitting there and staring at him with an ironical devastated expression.

As soon as Norman's blue eyes which almost looked lifeless had met hers, he struggled to sit up and she could see it was really difficult.

"No. No. Norman..." Leonard intervened before turning to face Beatris.

She was still standing at the door unable to move an inch. The machines that surrounded him scared her so much. Maybe that was the same thing bothering his friend.

His condition must've been really critical. He could've even died.

"Tris..." His voice was weak.

On hearing her name, she walked quickly towards Norman's bed and bent beside him.

"Norman...Oh, thank God you're alive. How could you try to take your own life like that?" She knew she wasn't supposed to be scolding him right now. After all, Doctor Blake had said not to excite him but she just couldn't control herself.

He shook his head. "What are you doing here?" He asked.

Beatris was shocked. "What?" How could he ask her that? He tried to commit suicide because she left and now she was back and he was asking her such a ridiculous question.

"I heard what happened and-"

"Leave." Norman's words were blunt and his eyes just reflected anger and pain. It terrified her.

She thought she didn't hear him properly. After all, he was really weak. "Norman..."

"I said leave. I don't want you here," he said struggling to sit up.

Beatris took a deep breath before standing up. "You..." She turned to face Leonard whose eyes pleaded with her to calm down. "I'd just...go ahead." She walked out sadly.

Norman faced Leonard who had his hand folded across his chest. He wasn't saying anything but it looked like there was a lot going on in his mind.

"I don't want to see her," he explained himself before lying down so he'd be comfortable. "S-she left me... For my brother."

"That doesn't give you the right to try and take your own life. Norman, what is wrong with you? Do you think you could j-just die and..." He took a deep breath. "You have no idea how scared I am, man. What if you'd died?" He was clearly upset.

"But I didn't. See? I'm still alive!" He exclaimed with a smile like everything was alright.

"Shut up! Just shut the hell up! You asked me to get out of your house, why? Because you just wanted to die? Because you think no one cares about you? Norman!" Disgust was the next thing to the anger displayed on Leonard's face.

"I'm fine, Leo."

"No, you're not fine!" Leonard got up and moved closer to him. "You could tell me the truth sometimes. I know I'm a crappy person with a screwed up life but... God! Norman...you're my brother. What would become of me if you just suddenly... left?" He sighed deeply.

Norman struggled and sat up motioning for Leonard to sit beside him. "I was having a headache and I took some pain relievers. That's all."

Leonard scoffed, irritated at Norman's terrible lying skills. "Some pain relievers? You're such an asshole. You're so dumb. You know if you weren't sick right now, I'd drag you off this bed and..." He stopped halfway as he noticed the wide smile on Norman's face. "What's funny?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. Go on, what would you do next?" There wasn't a hint of seriousness on his face.

Leonard went on his knees and took his friend's hand in his. "I'm sorry. Norman, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have left. I shouldn't have left you when you needed me the most. I hate myself right now."

"Gosh, Leo. I'm fine. What part of I'm fine is too difficult to understand?" He asked almost irritated.

"What if I hadn't gotten there in time? What if Elaine hadn't forced me to go to your house? What if..." The possibility of having to lose his friend was driving him crazy.

Norman looked serious for a moment. "Elaine?"

He nodded. "She couldn't believe I'd just walked out like that."

*Flashback*

"You're unbelievable, Leo. Norman is like your best friend," she said with her eyes fixed on him.

Leonard looked pissed. "I wonder why we're talking about Norman right now. He asked me out of his life. What am I supposed to do?"

"If you asked Norman out of your life, would he leave?" She asked as she turned to face Leonard.

Leonard was obviously affected by her words.

Elaine shook her head. "We both know he won't go. He'd come back and visit you every single day, and call you every single minute and you'd be so pissed to the point that you'd have no choice but to forgive him. He's psychopathic, he's a pest, he's a nut case but Leo, above all of that, he's your best friend."

--------------------------------------------------

"It's okay. I should thank Elaine for saving my life." He smiled, patting Leonard on his back and snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Norman, you should talk to Beatris," Leonard added.

He rolled his eyes in disgust. "I don't want to. She left me for Mac. He got what he wanted. I don't know if he's sent her here to torment me further," he said.

"She didn't leave you for your brother. You could say she left you for me but because I'm such a great friend and I won't like to hurt you in any way, I didn't touch your wife. Though I must confess, she's hot as hell!" Leonard said dramatically, teasing his friend.

"Hey!" Norman was set to attack. "You're so dead, Leonard. You're dead!"

"I said I didn't touch her!" He laughed at his friend's reaction.

"Get up from my bed."

"Hey, chill."

"Get up from my bed. I'd call the nurse. Get up." He yelled.

Leonard got up reluctantly. "What's your problem? I didn't touch her. I mean... She might've wanted it but..." He was without a doubt having a nice time.

"You're so shameless." Norman was irritated by the fact that he wasn't allowed to leave his bed because, apparently, there were a lot of places he wanted to hurt Leonard right now.

"You should see your face." Leonard laughed as he sat on the chair. "But seriously, Beatris has been living in my house and she has nothing to do with your brother. She's so worried about you."

He gave a sheepish grin and tried to hide the blush on his face. "Really?"

Leonard nodded. "Norman, Beatris obviously cares about you and I know you love her too. You could work things out," he said.

"You're not going to tell me how to live my life," he said nonchalantly.

Leonard shook his head. "Watch me," he said storming out of Norman's room.

Beatris and Sara were both standing in front of his door, his wife obviously consoling Norman's wife who looked so heartbroken.

"Is he okay?" She asked quietly.

"Yes. He wants to talk to you," Leonard said and he could hear his heartbeat.

She shook her head, obviously doubting his statement. "He asked me to leave."

"He needed to talk to me first. Beatris, common..."

"That man doesn't deserve all this niceness he's getting," Sara said angrily as she stuffed a potato chip into her mouth.

"Would you just stay out of this please?" Leonard struggled hard to hide his disgust. "Come with me." He took Beatris hand and led her in, releasing her as soon as they got in.

"Leo!" Norman remarked angrily. "I told you I didn't want to see this woman."

Beatris sighed, sensing the fact that both men were probably playing her for a fool right now.

She attempted walking towards the door but Leonard rushed forward and stood between her and the door.

"The both of you need to talk," he said.

"Well, he obviously doesn't want to talk to me. I don't even want to talk to him. The fact that he almost died doesn't make him any less the monster he actually is," she said facing Leonard angrily.

"Oh! I thought you liked monsters since you decided to screw around with my brother." He obviously just wanted to piss her off.

Beatris turned to face him and this time, she'd forgotten all about the doctor's warning. "I'm not the one that ruined our relationship. You did." She pointed her finger at him accusingly. "You've ignored me, you've hurt me, you left me all alone for so long, locked up in your house like a prisoner, and all the effort I have made to try to understand you, have gone down the drain. You act like such an innocent person that can barely touch me, yet while I'm deluding myself, having sleepless nights trying to find reasons to forgive you, you're rather busy sleeping with other women. You're such a screwed up person, Mr Patterson!"

Leonard's eyes were wide open. This woman really had no idea.

"Tris..." Norman was dumbfounded.

"Norman didn't cheat on you. He'd never do that," Leonard said, walking forward till he was standing almost in between them.

"I saw him-"

"You saw wrong. That woman... Elaine. She wasn't there because of Norman, she was there because of me." He sighed deeply.

"What do you mean?" She was confused as she looked from one man to another.

"Leo, stop," Norman warned but Leonard was unwilling to listen.

He shook his head. "If anyone has been unfaithful, it's me. I'm in love with that woman and I feel so bad letting him take the blame for my stupidity. I c-can't do it anymore!" He ignored the threatening stares his friend was giving him. "Norman was only trying to protect Sara because she's in a delicate condition. But that is just wrong!"

"Shut up!" Norman ordered but Leonard was too busy explaining himself to notice Sara standing at the door.