INT. ICU ROOM — EVENING

Jo sleeps.
Ventilator steady.
Sedation light.

Peaceful, finally.
Link still sits beside her.

He hasn’t moved since the trial.

After a long beat, he gently releases her fingers.
Stands.

Smooths the sheet at her shoulder.
Careful.

He doesn’t kiss her. 
Doesn’t risk waking her now that she’s resting.
He studies her face.

LINK
(whisper)
I’ll be back in the morning.

It costs him.

LINK (CONT’D)
(soft)
Good night, my love.

He pauses at the door.
Almost turns back.

Doesn’t.
He steps out.

INT. ICU CORRIDOR — CONTINUOUS

The door slides closed behind him.
Link walks a few steps toward the nurses’ station.

LINK
I’ll be in on-call room five.
Call me if anything changes.

He starts moving. Stops.

LINK (CONT’D)
And make sure she's comfortable.

The nurse nods.

NURSE
We will.
 
LINK
Thanks.

He walks.
to the elevator.
Down.
Out toward the ER entrance.

He just needs air.

Owen, chart in hand, notices him from the desk.
The ER is unusually calm.

EXT. ER ENTRANCE — CONTINUOUS

Cool air. 
Link steps outside.

Stops just beyond the sliding doors.
Hands on his hips. Looking down.

He inhales.
The first real breath he’s taken all day.

OWEN
Rough day, huh?

Link almost laughs.

LINK
Yeah.

Owen steps beside him. Not facing him. Just there.

OWEN
How’d the trial go?

Link hesitates.

LINK
She lasted a few minutes.
(a beat)
Heart couldn’t tolerate it.

Owen nods once.

OWEN
(soft)
She’ll get there.
Jo’s a fighter.

A beat.

Link stares ahead.
Exhales, shaky now.

LINK
I keep thinking we’re close.
(a beat)
Then we’re not.

Owen lets that sit.

OWEN
Recovery doesn’t move in straight lines.
You know that.

Link nods, eyes fixed ahead.
It lands a little deeper.

OWEN (CONT’D)
And sometimes it’s harder for the one still standing.

Link swallows.

LINK
I wouldn’t say that.
She’s the one with a tube in her throat.

OWEN
The meds blunt a lot of it.
She may not be carrying this the way you are.

Link looks away. Jaw tight.
 
LINK
I don’t know what she’s thinking in there.
(a beat)
Or how much she understands.

A long beat. 
Owen glances at him, then back ahead.

LINK (CONT’D)
I feel like I’ve been in this hospital forever.

OWEN
Yeah.
That happens in here.

Not a platitude.
Recognition.

LINK 
First time I’ve stepped outside without thinking everything would fall apart if I did.

Owen studies him.

OWEN
That’s progress.
Whether you feel it or not.

Link nods. Barely.

A beat.

OWEN
How are your girls?

LINK
Tomorrow I start skin-to-skin with Baby A.

A flicker crosses his face.

LINK (CONT’D)
And I hate that Jo can’t be there for it.

There it is.

Owen considers that.

OWEN
She’d want you there.

Simple. Certain.

LINK
I know.

He does.
He just doesn’t feel it yet.

A long beat.

LINK (CONT’D)
I don’t know what to say to her about the twins.
(a beat)
I don’t know if it helps…
or just reminds her she’s not with them.

Owen places a hand on Link’s good shoulder.

OWEN
You don’t have to make peace with everything tonight.

Link glances at him.
A beat.

OWEN
She’ll want to hear about them. 
Just… give her what she can carry right now.

Silence.

The ER doors slide open behind them. Close again.

Life keeps moving. 
Link nods, not because he’s convinced, but because he’s heard.

LINK
I’m going to see the girls.

OWEN
Yeah.
(a beat)
Then sleep.

Link nods once.

He turns. Walks back inside.

The air doesn’t fix anything.
But he’s steadier.

FADE OUT.