He fiddled with his fingers. His anxiety was nearly too overwhelming so, finally, he took a deep breath and exhaled. He knocked on the door to alert the patient he was about to enter. He reached for the doorknob and turned the handle.

"Who's there?" Michael heard her call from inside.

Michael pushed the door open and answered, "I'm Dr. Guerin. I'm so glad you're awa..." his voice trailed as his eyes focused Maria's unbandaged face for the first time since she arrived at the hospital.

"I can't believe it took you so long," Maria spoke impatiently. "I can't see a thing," she said annoyed.

Michael stood at the doorway afraid to move. He looked away and blinked a few times before looking back at the girl. He doubted his own eyes, but only for a moment.

When she didn't hear the doctor anymore, Maria spoke, "Well? Aren't you going to say anything?"

"Your face," Michael whispered.

"What?" Maria asked touching for her face. "Is it bad? The nurse said it wasn't bad." Her voice wavered with fear.

"No," Michael answered. "It's beautiful," he whispered.

Maria wasn't sure how to respond to her doctor telling her she was beautiful. She'd been in a car accident, been in and out of surgery and unconscious for days, and she was certain all her makeup had been washed away. And here stood this doctor telling her she was beautiful. "Do I know you?" Maria asked smiling and figuring his comment must be a joke.

Michael moved closer to Maria and sat in the chair next to her bed. He stared at her unable to take her eyes off her face. He knew her. No doubt. The cocky attitude...Alex and Liz...and the face. He began to smile realizing the miracle that sat before him. And Hope. "Oh my gosh...Hope" he thought. "Hope. Of course, she moved on. I told her not to wait for me...and she didn't." Immediately, his smile and his eyes fell as severe sadness overtook every inch of his being. He'd dreamed about just such a miracle. He’d fantasized about Maria's return from the moment he learned of her death. "Her death," Michael thought as his forehead wrinkled and his brows came to a distinct point just above his nose. "She lied," he thought. His sadness quickly became anger. "I cannot believe Liz lied to me! I wonder if she's been lying to Maria, too." Michael shook his head agreeing with his own thoughts. "I bet Liz never even told Maria I came back. Maria has no idea."

He looked at Maria's scared face and instantly his anger returned to sadness. "She never knew...and now it's too late. She moved on without me. She's happy. I felt it," his eyes began to water as he remembered the visions and emotions Maria shared with him in the E.R. "She was so happy when Hope was born. She loves her daughter, her job, her life."

Using the sleeve of his white coat, Michael wiped the only tear he allowed to escape his hazel eyes. When he pulled his arm away from his face, he stared at the sleeve. His eyes trailed up his own arm to his shoulder and down onto his chest to where a stethoscope hung from his neck. "I am a doctor. I a doctor because I believed this woman, this woman sitting plain as day merely inches from me, I believed this woman was dead. My entire career is based on a lie," he thought as he once again became angry. As thoughts crowded his head, Michael became more and more furious. "I worked my tail off in medical school. I spend day and night at this hospital...this hospital where more people come and go unhappy than not. And the general atmosphere around here could send a person to the mad house in a minute. I sleep...that is when I sleep...I sleep with a pager next to my pillow. I worry, I stress, I do all I can, sometimes risking my own exposure, to help save the lives of people I don't even know. And why do I do it? I do it because I never want anyone to feel the way I felt when I lost Maria."

Michael bit his lip to keep from shouting. He wanted to stand and shout with anger, but he also wanted to shout to the world that miracles do happen. While he was infuriated beyond belief, he also felt so much happiness to know she wasn't dead. To know she was alive and well…and happy. He smiled at the idea. Even if he wasn't with her, Michael was glad to know Maria was happy. The irony though, was nearly more than he could bear. When he'd left for Antar, he'd hoped Maria would move on with her life. He’d hoped she would not become obsessed with his memory. Michael figured that the visions he got from her in the E.R. were enough to know she had not spent her life pining away for him. But he had. He’d done the one thing he’d asked Maria not to do. He’d spent his life pining away for her. He'd become obsessed with Maria's memory. In fact, he'd based his entire life on hers.

"I can't believe it," he spoke in shock.

"What?!" Maria said losing her patience. "You're scaring me," she said as she fought tears. "What's happening?"

Michael suddenly realized that Maria was still his patient...and a terrified patient at that. "She doesn't know," he thought. "She doesn't know who her doctor is." He quickly decided that as much as he wanted to wrap his arms around the girl before him....as much as he wanted to take hold of her and never let her leave his side, he was medically responsible for her well being at the moment. He knew that if he told her...if he dropped that kind of news on her at the moment, that she could relapse. She could go into shock or even lose consciousness again. He knew that her condition was still frail and that she needed a recovery period with as little stress as possible. "I'll have to wait," he thought. "I'll tell her when I'm certain she can handle the news...and when I can, too."

He did all he could to gather his senses and spoke. "You're fine. You're going to be just fine." He smiled at the thought. He knew the news was a relief to Maria, but it gave him great comfort, too.

Maria relaxed when she heard her doctor tell her she was going to be fine. The tone he used made her feel comfortable and safe. She could tell from just the very few words he’d said that he cared about her well-being. She unwound enough to speak to him casually. “You know,” Maria said. “It’s kinda funny that your name is Guerin.”

Michael became stiff and afraid to move. “Does she know?” He worried. “She can’t know, yet. It’s not safe for her to learn such news just yet.”

“I used to know a Guerin.” Maria smiled as she reminisced and Michael sighed as he realized Maria did not know his true identity. She continued, “He was…is a good person. I really miss him.”

Michael lowered his head. He felt like a hypocrite. He was angry beyond words at Liz and Alex for lying to him, and now he was doing the same. Though he had not technically said he was anyone other than himself, withholding the truth was the same as lying. Michael wanted to tell Maria. He wanted desperately to tell her. But as her doctor, he knew she wasn’t ready for that kind of news. And as he became honest with himself, he wasn’t sure if he was ready for her reaction. “What if it’s not positive?” he thought. “What if she is glad I’m back, but doesn’t want to be with m? What if she is with someone else?” He glanced at her ring finger and saw that there was no ring. But then, he knew that with injuries like hers, jewelry would have been one of the first things the EMTs removed in preparation for swelling.

“He was really something else,” Maria said laughing. “He used to put Tabasco sauce on everything…I mean everything! His french fries, his eggs, even his ice cream. Yeah, he was really strange sometimes. But he had the biggest heart. He would do anything for you. He might put up a fight about it…in fact, he put up a fight about a lot of things. Most things, actually. He had this sort of tough-guy image to uphold. It was self-proclaimed. No one else really saw him that way.”

Michael laughed to himself and thought, “Just like Maria to be rambling to a perfect stranger.” He was moved by what Maria was saying. He felt like they lucky fly on the wall everyone always wished they could be. Still, he felt like he was invading her private thoughts. Sure, she was sharing them openly, but he was certain she would not be sharing such thoughts if she knew with whom she was sharing them.

“Listen to me,” Maria said shaking her head. “I sound like some lovesick twelve-year-old.”

“Lovesick?” Michael thought. “She’s lovesick?” He smiled and his heart raced at the idea that Maria might still be in love with him.

“I guess I’m finished interrupting you. What were you saying, doc?” Maria asked.

"Oh…um,” Michael gathered his thoughts and cleared his throat to speak with the tone of a doctor rather than the tone of a energized teenager who had just learned the object of his infatuation had mutual feelings. “You suffered optical damage from swelling. The swelling has gone down, but there is still some fluid trying to drain. Now, the optical damage will be corrected with time and you will regain your sight. But you will need to take it easy in the meantime." Michael couldn't help but smile as he spoke. He'd hoped for such good news since this girl had become his patient, even when he thought his attraction might be based on nothing more than a celebrity crush.

"How long?" Maria asked.

"I'm not sure. You could regain sight in as early as a few days or it could be up to three weeks." Michael spoke.

"Three weeks?!" Maria exclaimed.

"Maria, you've experienced extreme trauma to your..." Michael began.

Maria cut him off. "What did you just call me?"

Michael froze. He was speechless. He could not believe the careless mistake he’d just made. He kicked himself and squeezed his fists. Michael was afraid that the time was not right for Maria to know the truth.

"Dr., the patient in room 743 has gone into arrest!" a nurse frantically announced from the doorway.

Michael's mouth moved, but without sound. His eyes stayed focused on Maria’s confused and alarmed face. His plan to wait may be ruined. He didn't know how he should answer her.

"Doctor!" the nurse demanded from the door.