The doctor said, "Okay, I know you all want to know how Jim is doing. We've installed a pacemaker and it appears to be regulating his heart function as we'd hoped. Jim will be here for a few more days, but he should be able to return to normal activities in a week or so. He can have visitors tomorrow."

Pam leaned against Stanley; who easily supported the slim receptionist. She felt like she was finally able to breathe again.

"Will he be like bedridden or anything?" Kelly asked. "Cause that would really suck. Like there was this movie where..."

"He should be fine. There are some things we'll have to keep an eye on, but there's no reason he can't live a normal life."

Pam caught Angela's eye and mouthed, "thank you,"

Angela smiled softly and nodded. The accountant looked over at Dwight and shivered. Pam wondered what she was thinking about.

Doctor Lambert told Larissa. "I'd like you to be there when Jim wakes up."

Larissa turned to Pam, "I think Jim would like to see you."

"And I should be there too. I'm his best friend," Michael said. Neither Larissa nor Pam could think of a way to nicely ask him to leave. The others filed out of the waiting room. Phyllis, Dwight, Stanley, and even Angela hugged Pam before leaving.

The doctor turned to the remaining trio and said, "Jim has to understand the seriousness of his situation. I'll need to be brutally honest with him. So you'll have to be quiet and not interrupt me as we talk."

All three nodded. "I understand," Michael said with enthusiasm. "It's going to be liked Scared Straight."

"Michael, please," Pam warned. Her boss nodded.

They went into intensive care and Pam was shocked at how Jim looked. His skin was almost gray. He was hooked up to an EKG machine and had IVs in his arm. She leaned back against the door frame and steadied herself.

"I should have warned you," the doctor said. "We had to cool down his body as part of the procedure. It's a temporary thing."

After a few moments, Jim began to stir. It took him some time to fully regain consciousness. He saw looked around and saw everyone. Pam saw Jim's face fall when he noticed her. She didn't want to guess what that meant.

The doctor finally spoke. "Jim, you've had surgery and are in the recovery room. You're very lucky to be alive."

"I don't really feel lucky right now," Jim said, his voice thick and slow.

"Well, I really don't give a damn what you feel right now," the doctor said. "You've gone off you medication again, haven't you?"

Jim was immediately defensive. "It's not like last time. I wasn't depressed." Pam had to look away at his comment. "I made an appointment with the doctor you recommended in Stamford, but they cancelled. Then I just couldn't get away. Josh and I were working these crazy hours trying to improve our numbers so the branch wouldn't have to close."

"Stupid Josh," Michael said.

Pam silenced her boss with a glare.

Doctor Lambert cut in. "Jim, I don't care. I told you before, you have two choices. You can keep up your maintenance or you can die. That's it."

Jim looked away and nodded.

"Now we've installed a pacemaker to regulate your heart function..."

Jim tried to sit up and fell painfully back onto the bed. "I told you before that I didn't want you to put anything inside me," he spat.

"Well I want a house in the country and patients who listen to me," the doctor replied equally bluntly. "We can't always have what we want."

"You have a house in the country," Jim countered, wearily.

"Well I guess I'm just luckier than you are. The technology has improved. It's safer than ever. There's no reason you can't recover if you take responsibility for your health. Will you do it?"

"It was just a couple weeks," Jim said, looking at his mom and Pam.

"You can't miss a day, Jim," Dr. Lambert cut in. "We've been over this too many times."

"I know," Jim answered. "Look, I... I'm back here now and I know what I need to do."

"You put a lot of folks through the ringer today," the doctor noted, his voice becoming calmer. "I had a whole waiting room full of people who wanted to make sure you were okay. So don't let them or yourself down." He patted Jim on the shoulder. "Now try to rest and I'll be in to see you in the morning. I have to get back to my house in the country."

Jim managed a weak smile as the doctor left. He looked at his mom, Pam, and Michael. "Look guys, I'm really sorry. It wasn't..."

"I don't care," Michael said. "You scared the crap out of us. Pam was crying, she yelled at me..."

"Michael, we don't need to make Jim feel any worse," Pam said.

Larissa Halpert said to Michael, "Why don't we get some tea. Pam, can you keep Jim company for a minute?" Pam nodded. "We'll be right back." She told her son.

Pam sat in the chair beside Jim's hospital bed.

"I am really sorry," Jim said, trying again to apologize.

"It's okay," Pam said, a little too quickly. Neither of them could think of anything else to say for a moment. Finally, the receptionist said, "It was Angela."

"What?"

"Angela performed CPR on you. She saved your life. I didn't know..."

"I should have told you a long time ago," Jim admitted.

"Why didn't you?" Pam asked.

Jim took a deep breath and winced slightly before he answered. "It's hard to talk about. I didn't want to seem...weak, I guess, around you. I didn't want to guilt you into having feelings for me."

"Well, you didn't," Pam said. "but I do. I've had them for a long time and I was too scared to admit it. Of course, as we always seem to do, I managed to let everyone in the office know before I was able to tell you."

"That sounds familiar," Jim agreed. "Although to be fair, I only told Michael."

Pam rolled her eyes. "The only worse thing would have been to tell Kelly...Or to do what I did." She knew she was blushing.

"Which was?" Jim asked.

"I made a huge scene when the paramedics came in. Michael had to pry my hands off of you so they could take you to the hospital. Then I screamed that I had to come with you."

Jim swallowed. He reached out his hand and Pam grabbed it and pulled it to her chest, leaning her chin against it. The beeps on the EKG became noticeably faster, and Pam worriedly dropped his hand.

The look of pain in Jim's face cut through her. "I'm sorry," she whispered, reaching out for him. He pulled his hand away.

"You should go," Jim said. Pam could tell he was holding back tears.

"I'm not leaving," Pam said quietly.

"Please," Jim begged. "you deserve someone who can be there for you. Not..."

"Not what?"

"Not someone who's broken." Finally the tears came for both of them. Pam leaned over the bed and put her head against Jim's neck as they cried together. Pam forced herself not to listen to the pinging of the EKG machine.

Finally she leaned back and got some water for Jim.

"I'm the one getting fluids," he noted. She took a sip of his water.

Pam found a box of tissues on the bedside table and dried her eyes. "There's something you should know," she said. "I was up all last night trying to get up the nerve to tell you how I felt. This isn't because you're sick." It pained her how surprised Jim looked as she spoke.

"Pam, I need to tell you that I've been out on a couple of dates with Karen," Jim said.

"I figured," Pam said. "She was here. She said that you two were friends."

"Yeah. We haven't..."

"Jim, I just wanted you to know how I felt. I know that I hurt you and if you don't..."

"I do, that's the problem," Jim said. "You deserve better than me."

Pam had been through too much today to put up with this. "Listen, if you're going to go into the ‘you need a big strong man' crap, I really am going home. Listen to me very carefully." She started ticking items off on her fingers. "I called off my wedding to Roy on my own. I have my own apartment. I'm taking art classes so I can have a career I love. I want to be with you, whether it's for two days or fifty years. So get over yourself and tell me you love me or I'm calling a cab."

"If you don't tell her, I will," Michael's voice called out from the doorway.

Pam buried her face in her hands.

"How long have you guys been there," Jim sighed.

"Since you told Pam that you dated some girl named Karen," Larissa Halpert replied.

"Add public nudity and my day would be complete," Jim said.

"Tell her," Michael warned.

"I love you," Jim dutifully said to Pam as he kissed her palm. "Michael, can you take her home?"

"Sure," his boss replied. "But we're going to talk tomorrow. I'm going to make sure that you take care of yourself from now on."

Pam suddenly had a painful vision of what the next few weeks might be like for Jim. She kissed Jim on the cheek and smiled. They still had a lot to talk about, and Jim had a lot to get through on his own. But this was a start.

"Larissa," Michael asked, "do you need a ride?"

"No thank you, Michael. I'll be fine here for now."

The activities of the day were finally catching up to Pam. By the time she had made it to Michael's car, she was practically asleep on her feet.

Pam woke up several hours later. She nervously reached out and was able to find a lamp. There were pictures of Michael and the Dunder Mifflin crew on the wall, so she guessed he had taken her to his condo. "I guess I never told him where I lived," she realized. She leaned back on the couch and thought, "Wow, Michael was very much the gentleman last night." That was when she looked down and noticed that her blouse and skirt had been removed. She cast her eyes heavenward. "Jim was the one asking for public nudity, not me," she said.