Eden turned over on her belly and held her eyelids tightly shut in yet another failed attempt to fall asleep. But she couldn't, for her mind plagued her consistently with images of the man who stood staring down the bridge. For all she knew, Mr. Stacks did hurl himself over that bridge, and she let him! Rather than talk him out of it, or call the cops, she walked away from him. It was the same thing as walking away from a patient and letting them die without first doing everything she could to save them.

Rolling over on her side, she sat up straight. Maybe she should call the cops right now and inform them of Mr. Stacks' suicide? Would they blame her for it? Maybe he hadn't killed himself yet; maybe the police could still get to him? What were the odds that he would still be standing on a bridge, in the middle of the snow, about five hours since she walked away? If Mr. Stacks did intend to kill himself, he would have already done that.

Knowing she wouldn't fall asleep if she didn't know the truth, she reached for her phone on the nightstand and called Judie.

"Child, are you trying to get killed?!" Judie rasped, clearly displeased. Eden knew Judie most likely ended her shift about an hour ago, and must have only just fallen asleep.

"I am so sorry, Judie."

"It is 2:00am! If you're so sorry, you will get off of my phone!"

"I was hoping you could give me Henry's cell phone number," she said, thinking she could call Henry and ask him to pull information on Mr. Stacks. Maybe she could even get an address and drive over to Mr. Stacks' house?

"Is it an emergency?"

Eden paused, unsure of what to say. If she told Judie it was an emergency, she would most likely show up on her doorstep demanding to know what was wrong.

"No-"

"Listen very carefully, Eden, because I've only got the patience to say this one time," she heard Judie heave a breath on the other end. "Do not wake me up unless there's an actual emergency, like, I don't know, maybe the Apocalypse! I've been dealing with vomit, urine, sweat, blood, and a long list of nasty the entire day. I love you to death Eden, so I'm nicely going to hang up, and we can have this conversation in the morning when I've had my morning coffee which is also my daily dose of sanity. Bye-bye," she all but yelled, before hanging up the phone.

Settling back into bed helpless, Eden clung to her pillow and stared at the ceiling the entire night, praying to God she didn't just turn a blind eye to a suicide.

~*~

Mike heard the buzzer go off in his apartment, dragging him out of an alcohol induced slumber.

Groaning, he rubbed his aching head and waited for his blurry vision to give way to the dimly lit room.

The buzzer sounded again, just as he struggled to a sitting position. Who was at his door? He frowned, turning to face the window. He could see the brightened sky through the dirty bed sheet that hung from the window, alerting him to the break of a new day; a day he certainly had not planned on seeing. Yet, here he sat, waking up to yet another miserable day. He should have killed himself yesterday! After contemplating suicide for many months since Maddie's death, he finally got the courage to do it. Something about being in that hospital -the same hospital Maddie passed away in- brought back the staggering, heart-wrenching memory, and with it, an overwhelming desire to die. He had barely gotten through the day, the very sight of the hospital and the children who were just like his little girl, nearly driving him insane. Then, the day had ended, and he had made his way to a bridge.

Even now, as he sat in his bed, he remembered the feeling of the cold metal of the railing searing itself into his palm. He remembered the feel of the breeze combing through his hair. He remembered his own anxiety. He remembered the doctor...

He had seen her earlier that day and had immediately recognized her; it was Impossible to forget the face of the woman who shattered his life a year ago with the devastating news of his daughter's death, and as if to make matters worse, she had followed him to the bridge again that evening, stopping his attempt of suicide. At the time, he had been frustrated by her continued interference of his attempt, his frustration quickly translating to anger, but as he watched her turn around and walk away, he realized that she was right; he was wrong for attempting to kill himself on that evening. It was careless of him to choose a random date, when he could -in commemoration of Maddie- choose to die on the same day as her; on Christmas day? It was only a few days away, giving him time enough to plan the event.

The buzzer went off again, prompting him to his feet. Groaning, he rubbed his throbbing forehead as he staggered to the living room and pushed the button on the intercom.

"You probably got the wrong apartment!" he growled, turning away.

The buzzer went off again and this time, he was certain he could hurl a bottle down at the stranger.

"Go away!"

"Mr. Stacks!"

Shocked to hear a familiar voice, his fingers froze on the button, his frown deepening. Leaning forward so that his lips were nearly touching the button, he growled, "how on earth did you know where I live?!"

"Oh, God," she sighed, and he imagined her with her hand pressed to her chest, "you are alive!"

"I can't guarantee you the same thing if you don't stop stalking me!"

"Mr. Stacks, listen!" she called as he made to walk away. "I know I can't make up for Maddie's death-"

Furious, Mike swung open the door, and taking the stairs two at a time, ran down the dimly lit stairways. She was standing by the door when he pushed it open, his nostrils flaring.

"You do not get to speak of her! You and that godforsaken hospital!"

"We found the tumor when it was too late, Mike..."

"And she died because of it! Because you figured it out too late."

"I can accept some of the blame for that. We should have run the test early, but it is done Mike, and you need to move on." Light blue eyes stared back at him, urging him to let go. The only problem was, Mike didn't know what to hold on to other than anger, guilt and grief.

He took a step to her, and she stiffened. Unlike the times he had seen her in the hospital, she wasn't dressed in green scrubs, but was instead dressed in black denim pants, brown knee high boots and a brown jacket. Her hands were covered with mittens, and a black beanie kept her brown hair with blonde highlights hidden.

His eyes quickly traveled the length of her, before settling on her face.

"You are right about one thing, and it is not my need to move on. Accept the blame, doctor and leave me the hell alone!" he said, holding her gaze.

Her silence was a good indication that he had succeeded in convincing her to leave him alone.

Sighing, she straightened. "If you will get dressed, I could drop you off at the hospital." She motioned to his chest. Glancing down, Mike realized for the first time that he was standing in the middle of the street shirtless and barefooted, with nothing but a pajamas pants on.

"I don't have to do anything. I especially don't have to return to that hospital."

"You do, if you do not want to get arrested again," she said.

He raised a brow, barely shocked she knew about his probation. Seeing as she followed him to the bridge last night and his home this morning, he couldn't say he was surprised the stalker in her didn't know all about his probation.

"Or do the time," she finished.

"I would rather do the jail time. At least I wouldn't be interrupted the next time I try to kill myself. Who knows, I could simply get a dangerous criminal to do the job by pissing him off and handing myself over to be killed." He had had enough of her. Clearly, she was not going away so he figured he might as well be the one to leave.

"Who said anything about jail, Mr. Stacks?"

Something in her tone forced him to a halt; something threatening. He turned to her. "What?"

"Oh, I wasn't talking about jail time, Mr. Stacks, I was talking about an institute where people like you -who are threats to themselves and the general public- are kept and forced to seek professional help." She stepped forward, her threat finally sinking in. "See, I can convince a Judge that you're unfit to walk the streets of New York. Actually, you're going to prove it yourself because your criminal record says you were out driving drunk. Who knows, maybe it would be decided that you were not only trying to kill yourself, but a bunch of people as well. "

A mirthless laugh escaped Mike's lips then; an odd combination of anger, frustration and humor at the doctor's belief that her feeble attempt at a threat would do anything to frighten him. "Are you threatening me, doctor?"

"I'm asking you to pick between being checked into an institution, or community service and joining a sobriety group willingly. I know the Judge recommended the whole sobriety group thing, but I can have her actually force you to attend."

A bitter taste filled his mouth but he managed to keep the horror off of his face. Swallowing a few choice words, he said, "what do you want?"

"I want you to get your feet out of the snow, and your head out of your ass. Think you can do that, Mr. Stacks?" She smiled sweetly at him.

The overwhelming urge to yell and demand that he be left alone, was difficult to deny, but he decided against it. It was clear to him that rudeness and nastiness meant nothing to the doctor who had unfortunately developed an interest in him. It was especially clear to him that if he tried to shake her off, she might be more determined to stick around, thereby foiling his plans to kill himself.

Plastering a smile on his face in spite of his desire to cuss, he said, "oh, I can do so much more than that, doctor."

Her eyes searched his for several seconds, and he knew she was searching for signs of deception. He also knew she would not only find deception in his eyes, but hate because he hated her guts. Hopefully, all of that would be enough to get her to leave him alone. "Five minutes," she nodded to the building.

His smile faltered at her insistence to stay rather than leave. Turning around, his smile disappeared as soon as he had his back to her. She could ruin everything! Fear caused his heart to race, and anger, his fingers to clench into a fist. If she gave the judge a reason to believe he was mentally unstable, he would indeed be closely watched and would miss the opportunity to kill himself on Christmas day. He couldn't do that! He couldn't allow the crazy doctor ruin his perfectly laid out plan. For the next twenty three days, he would have to do what she says.

~*~

"Earth to Eden."

Eden felt a small pat on her hand, evoking a gasp from her lips as she tore her eyes off of Mr. Stacks who was mopping the floors of the waiting area, and turned her attention to Judie who was now looking at her like she had done something wrong.

"Okay, what's going on?" Judie raised a brow, motioning to Mr. Stacks.

"Um, nothing. Can I get Rodney's file?" she said, trying to change the topic.

Judie leaned forward over the counter. "Not until you tell me who the guy over there is, and why he has your complete attention."

Eden knew who Mr. Stacks was, but she wasn't exactly sure why he had her attention. She knew she felt guilty for not being able to save his daughter, and also for walking away from him on the bridge yesterday. She knew she was a little bit sorry for threatening him into agreeing to resume community service in the hospital, but other than that, she wasn't sure why she kept looking out for him when he was absent, and staring at him when he was present. Maybe it was because she feared he would succeed in killing himself when she wasn't looking?

Shaking her head, she thought she was being silly. She couldn't stop him if he did decide to kill himself, and she also knew he most likely hadn't given up on his plan do to it.

"Eden?" Judie called, pulling her back to the present once more.

"I'm so sorry Judie, I've just been distracted and occupied lately with everything that's going on, and the wedding..."

"How's that coming along?"

She shrugged. "Grammie wants to go cake tasting tomorrow. I'm just so busy, you know?"

Judie nodded, smiling. "Yeah, I see how busy you are." She motioned behind Eden, causing Eden to turn around just in time to watch Mr. Stacks push the cart away.

She turned back to Judie. "He's the father of one of my patients, okay, and she's dead now, and he blames me, and he's going to kill himself, and I don't know when!" she said, not bothering to pause to take a breath. Judie grabbed her shoulder, halting her flow of words.

"Okay," she nodded, "take a deep breath, honey. Are you okay?" Reaching out, she swept her thumb across Eden's cheek. It was only then that Eden realized she had been crying.

Nodding furiously, she took a deep breath. "I have to fix this, Judie. I have... need to fix him. I was powerless to save Maddie, but maybe I could save him, maybe I could help him regain some semblance of sanity in his life."

"What is he doing here working as a janitor anyway?"

Eden shrugged. "I called Henry, right after you sent the text with his number?" She waited for Judie to nod in acknowledgement of the event, before continuing. "It turns out Mr. Stacks has had a few run ins with the law in the last year, most of which has had to do with alcohol; drunk in public, getting into a brawl in a bar, driving under the influence... I mean, the man's about to self destruct! He's here on probation."

"Well, at least it explains the constant scowl on his face; he's working and not getting paid." Judie smiled, apparently trying to lighten Eden's mood, but the last thing she wanted to do was smile. "You know I'm going to say it's not your fault, right?" Eden nodded, still not feeling any better. "But I'm also going to say how noble it is of you to think of trying to help him. Unfortunately, he's got to want to help himself as well. You could ask him to join the grief support group on the third floor? I think there's a meeting tomorrow."

Eden scoffed, predicting Mr. Stacks' reaction to her request; he'd refuse. She already succeeded in forcing him to return to work, but she wasn't certain she couldn't force him to join a group that would make him confront his feelings...

Gasping, Eden felt a ghost of a smile begin to settle on the corners of her lips, as she thought of just the right way to get Mr. Stacks to attend the meeting for the support group tomorrow.

She was going to help him, whether he wanted her help, or not.