The automatic doors to the Intensive Care Unit at Llanview Hospital swing open and John McBain walks through them into the unit. Almost immediately his eyes are drawn up ahead where Officer Branson stands – where he’d been assigned just a short while ago.

John approaches him, glancing to his left and into the room Branson’s been assigned to guard. In it, he sees that Evangeline is alone in the room, lying in bed with her eyes closed. She looks peaceful.

And safe.

“Hey, Lieutenant,” Branson greets.

“Hey. Everything quiet?”

“Everything’s been quiet since I got here. Her mother and cousin just stepped out a few minutes ago. They said something about going to the cafeteria. And when I got here, ADA Buchanan was just leaving.”

“Good,” John says. “Just keep your eyes open for anything or anybody looking like they don’t have business here. And nobody you don’t know gets into Miss Williamson’s room. Got it?”

“Yes, sir.”

John leaves him and steps into the doorway of Evangeline’s room. He stands there for a minute or so, just watching her sleep. He takes a deep breath and exhales, knowing how lucky they are that her injuries weren’t more serious than they were. A small shift in the bullet’s trajectory and the outcome could have been much, much different. As it is, her doctors are saying that they expect a full recovery.

’But this shouldn’t have happened to you…’

He shakes off the thought. She’s safe, he reminds himself. That’s the most important thing right now.

And he’s determined to keep her that way.

He steps into the room and over to the bed. He leans over, gently kisses her forehead, and strokes her cheek as her eyes open.

“Hey,” he greets softly.

Evangeline looks up into his eyes and relaxes.

“Hey,” she answers weakly. “You came back…”

“You bet,” he says. “How are you doing?”

“Still kind of groggy. I keep falling asleep...”

“Well, you’ve been through a lot. Where’s your mom?”

“I made her go get something to eat,” she tells him. “She’s been here watching over me forever. I figured she needed a break – cup of tea or something.”

“Hmm. And how’s Henry?”

Evangeline smiles at the tone in his voice.

“Henry is fine,” she answers. “Only I think that my mom’s got him under a gag order or something because he hasn’t said anything to make me want to smack him.”

“That could be a good thing,” John says.

“Which – the gag order or smacking him?”

“Whatever works.”

She stifles a giggle.

“Don’t make me laugh, McBain,” she tells him. “It hurts.”

“I know. Sorry.”

John’s eyes roam over her face for a silent moment, almost as if he’s seeing her for the first time.

“What is it?”

“You just look beautiful, that’s all.”

“Oh God,” she dismisses, suddenly feeling very self-conscious. “I can’t imagine what I must look like right now…But thanks for saying that.”

“You are the most beautiful thing in the world to me,” he says. “I love you.”

The words startle her.

“What did you say?” Evangeline manages as soon as she finds her voice.

John shrugs.

“Nothing you haven’t heard before,” he says. “I told you earlier. Don’t tell me you don’t remember…”

“I thought I dreamed it,” she says, her eyes beginning to mist the tiniest bit. “You think I’d remember you saying those words to me – after waiting to hear them for so long…”

“Yeah. You’d think…I didn’t mean to make you wait. It’s just that…when the feelings go so deep…sometimes it’s just hard for me to get the words out…But when this whole thing happened, I promised myself that if I ever got another chance, I’d let you know how much you mean to me.”

“Thank you,” Evangeline says. “I love you, too…so much…”

A silent gaze passes between them – one that’s heavy with emotion, their relationship climbing to still another level.

And they both feel it.

“So,” John begins, breaking the spell, “pain’s real bad, I guess…”

“Yeah…but the pain medication’s really good so…”

“I bet…I’m uh…I’m sorry that this happened to you.”

“It’s not your fault, John,” she tells him – hearing in his voice what he didn’t say.

“If I’d been on time -”

“If you’d been on time, when the shooting started you’d have done your whole cop thing…and who knows what would’ve happened to you…”

“I was supposed to meet you for dinner but I let the job get in the way and then Natalie calls -”

“Natalie?” she repeats. “So how come I’m not surprised…”

“She said it was urgent.”

“It always is…Look, what happened to me is not your fault, okay? This was just a case of me being in the wrong place, at the wrong time. But I’m gonna be okay so…don’t do this to yourself. Okay?”

“Yeah well…I let other things come before you – before us. I’m never gonna let that happen again…”

Just then Lisa appears in the doorway of Evangeline’s room – Henry standing just behind her.

“Oh, John,” she begins when she spots John at Evangeline’s bedside. “I didn’t know you’d come back.”

“Yeah. I uh…just got here a few minutes ago.” Suddenly the beeper in his jacket pocket starts to vibrate. He takes it out of his pocket and looks at it to get the number. “It’s the station. Excuse me.”

He walks past Lisa, past Henry, and over to the main desk in the unit.

“Do you have a phone I can use?” he asks.

“Sure,” the woman in the scrubs says. She picks up a telephone set and places it on the desk in front of him.

“Thanks,” he says. He lifts the receiver and dials the station. He waits for an answer. “It’s McBain. Somebody page me?” He listens for a moment. “Right…Leave it on my desk. Thanks.” He hangs up the telephone. When he turns back around, he sees Henry standing in his path.

He sighs and rolls his eyes.

“Something I can do for you, Henry?”

“Yes,” he answers. “You can explain to me what the hell kind of a one-horse town my cousin lives in. She gets shot while she’s having dinner in some restaurant? What the hell is that about? I mean how does something like that happen to a respected attorney?”

“Haven’t quite figured that out yet,” he answers disinterestedly, the effort to ignore Henry finally wearing on him.

Besides John fully intends to get the answers to those questions himself.

No matter who he has to go through to get them.

“What – you local cops too busy taking illegal payoffs to do the jobs you’re supposed to be doing?”

“Henry,” he begins, his patience having come to an end, “you’ve obviously got some issues with me and I’m getting a little tired of bumping into you every time I turn around so why don’t you just lay your cards out on the table here and now so you can get out of my face once and for all?”

John’s abrupt tone catches Henry off guard for a moment. It even amuses him to some degree.

“Okay then,” he begins, deciding to be just as abrupt. “My ‘issue’ with you is that I don’t think you’re good enough for my cousin.”

“Hmm,” John calmly responds. “Well, that’s plain enough. But I suppose you want to elaborate…”

“Some local cop in some small town isn’t going to give Evangeline the kind of life she deserves – the kind of life she’s worked all these years to have. In my opinion, you’re just in the way, taking up space – keeping the right man from coming into her life.”

“I see. The right man? And I suppose that would be somebody like Dennis?”

“Dennis was perfect for her.”

“Well, clearly we’re never gonna see eye to eye on this and, interestingly enough, I’m okay with that. Besides you know what they say about opinions. Now, are you sure there’s not something else about me that’s bothering you?”

“Well, now that you mention it, I don’t think that this so-called relationship of yours has a snowball’s chance in hell of going the distance. My cousin’s a defense attorney – one of the best. What are you – an ex-FBI agent and now you’re just a plain old regular cop?”

“And maybe the wrong color?”

“Maybe. You’re from two different worlds, McBain. Between that and the difference between her career and your job, I don’t think you’ll last another six months…”

“Like I said. We all know what they say about opinions. And, frankly, I don’t care what you or anybody else in your family thinks about me. The only one of the Williamsons whose opinion matters to me is Evangeline. We done here?”

Henry glares at him.

“Yes,” he answers, seeing how little effect his words have had. “We’re done.”

“Good.” He starts back to Evangeline’s room. “Always good talking to you.”

John shakes his head in disbelief as he steps back into the hospital room, Evangeline’s mother having moved to the side of the bed farthest from the door.

Once inside the room, he stands silently for a moment while his mind fills with thoughts of punching Henry in the mouth once and for all.

And, for John, the idea isn’t necessarily a bad one.

“Something important?” Evangeline asks.

The sound of her voice breaks through, bringing him back to the here and now.

“Could be,” he answers. “ Don’t know yet. They uh, just delivered files for a case I’m working on. I need to see what’s in them.”

“Hey,” she begins, “my mom is here and Henry is here…You go do your job. I’ll be fine.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure. I do need you to do something for me – if you don’t mind.”

“Name it.”

“Can you take Mom and Henry over to my place when visiting hours are over? It doesn’t make sense for them to stay in a hotel when my apartment’s empty.”

“You got it. Let’s see,” he says, looking at his wristwatch. “Visiting hours are over at around eight so…I’ll be back before then but…I guess we’ll head over to Evangeline’s apartment then? How’s that?”

“That would be fine,” Lisa tells him.

“Do you have my keys?” Evangeline asks.

“Yeah. I picked up your pocketbook last night. Don’t worry. I’ll handle it.”

“Thank you, John,” Lisa says.

“You’re welcome.” He turns his attention back to Evangeline. “I’ll be back later.” He leans over and kisses her forehead. “Your eyes are starting to look a little tired.”

“That’s what I was just telling her…”

“You guys…”

“Just take it slow,” John gently prods. “Don’t try to get better all at once, okay?”

“Okay,” she relents with a sigh. “I won’t.”

“Good.” He strokes her hair. “See you later.”

“See ya.”

Evangeline lies there and watches him turn and walk to the doorway, getting there just as Henry appears in front of him. The two men barely acknowledge each other’s presence as they step around each other – Henry coming into the room and John disappearing through the doorway and out of sight.

Even from her hospital bed, she can feel the tension between them.

“Oh no,” she says, anticipating the worst. “What did you say to John?”

“We had a little talk,” Henry tells her. “He asked what was on my mind. I told him.”

“Oh, no…” Lisa says.

“John is important to me, Henry,” Evangeline says. “If you can’t accept that, then just keep your mouth shut.”

“You can do so much better than that cop, Cookie.”

“And stop calling me ‘Cookie’…Look, you don’t get to decide for me. I’m the only one who gets to do that. You never let anybody tell you what to do.”

“And I’m also not selling myself short,” he tells her. “How long are you going to waste your time with that white cop?”

“Henry!”

“No, Mom. Henry,” Evangeline manages, becoming more than a little upset, “you have no idea what’s between John and me, okay? So do me a favor and mind your business.”

“I’m just telling you how it is -”

“That’s enough, Henry,” Lisa insists. “She’s in no shape for this kind of stuff coming from you. She’s just getting over being shot, for Goodness sake!”

“Aunt Lisa -”

“No! This conversation is over. Do you understand me?”

“Fine!” he fumes before whipping around and storming out through the open door.

“Oh, honey,” Lisa says. “I’m so sorry.”

“It doesn’t matter,” she dismisses forcing herself to calm down. “I love John…and he loves me.”

“Are you sure about that? I mean, you told me yourself that he’s never said the words to you.”

“Yeah well…Today he did.”

Evangeline stops to think about it – to remember John’s words to her, the sound of his voice and the softness in his eyes warming her when he said them. Such an incredibly special moment that came and went quickly and without fanfare or warning. But it left an indelible imprint - on her life as well as in her heart. With John’s words and, more importantly, the emotion behind them, things between them have shifted once again.

She told him once that as long as she knew they had a chance, she’d stick with him forever.

And it has never been truer than it is at this very moment.

“Even with everything that’s happened…my life is in a good place right now – my life with John,” she observes, “…and I’m not going to let Henry or anybody else take that away.” She relaxes into the pillow and closes her eyes. She takes a deep breath and blows it back out slowly. “Not ever…”

---

The dark-haired female nurse at the desk looks up from the computer keyboard and picks up the telephone receiver.

“ICU,” she answers, absently – still concentrating on the chart she’s been updating. “Oh, I’m sorry. I’m afraid we don’t give out patient information…”

The line suddenly goes dead.

“What’s the matter?” another of the nurses asks, noting the look of concern on her co-worker’s face.

“Is that police officer still around?”

“I just saw him standing outside of Miss Williamson’s room. Why?”

“Because that was someone who didn’t leave a name – a man,” she explains, placing the receiver back on its hook. “And he was asking about Miss Williamson.”

---

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