"Marcie…" he said, feeling his body go numb. His throat was so dry, he could hardly speak. Oh my God… how had this happened? He reached out and touched her face, cringing as he studied the purple bruises… so many bruises…. He wanted to kiss them away. His eyes filled with tears and he had to fight to keep them from falling.

"Dr. McBain! Dr. McBain!" Suddenly Michael realized that the doctor was speaking to him. Michael looked up. Still in shock, he tried to speak. "Yeah?"

"I was asking for your prognosis on this patient." The doctor said.

The room was silent, waiting for a response. However, Michael couldn't keep his eyes off of Marcie. He touched her face again with the back of his hand. His mind drifted to the best day of his life… Valentine's Day…

Everything had gone according to plan. Simply Red was incredible at Capricorn. Marcie loved it. She looked so beautiful that night. Finally she had forgiven him for kissing Jen. It devastated him to see her so upset. After the incident with Jen, he was sure that he had lost her forever. Why had he given into Jen's seductions? He'd never meant to hurt Marcie.

Valentine's Day had changed everything. Something magical had happened that night. But what? Well, as he told Marcie… Maybe we happened…

"Dr. McBain! What's your prognosis on this patient? We don't have much time." Michael looked at the nurse who was speaking to him. Clearly she was more than irritated with him. How was he supposed to help her? He had no idea. The moment he realized it was Marcie on that table, everything he learned in medical school seemed to have vanished from his mind. What was he going to do?

"…well?" one of the interns said in a tone that told Michael he was not happy. Quickly his eyes searched Marcie's limp body. She had numerous cuts on her face, arms and forehead. He was sure her leg was broken and he figured she probably had injured her ribs. He had to think fast.

"Okay…" he said to one of the nurses. "Hook up this IV immediately. I want to get this into her system and see if we can get some kind of response." The nurse did as instructed.

"Okay, good." Michael said to no one in particular. An intern approached him. "What can I do?" she asked.

Michael tried to smile. "Yes, thank you. I need you to clean up these cuts as much as possible without hurting her and get her bandaged up. Take care of any that need stitches as well, please."

"Yes sir. Right away." The intern immediately got a wet cloth and began wiping away the excess blood lingering on Marcie's face.

"I'll be back soon." Michael said to the paramedics. In a daze, he walked to the lobby and sat down, trying to regain his composure. He was a doctor. He wasn't supposed to let things get to him. But this was Marcie. He put his hands on his hand and closed his eyes. God, this was his fault. He should have taken some time off to be with Marcie. Taking time off was looked down upon in the medical field, but Marcie was important to him. He'd hurt her so many times, he vowed never to do it again.

Just then the elevator doors opened and Jen and Riley came running out. "Michael, thank God." Jen said throwing herself into his arms. "Where's Marcie? Is she okay?" Tears streamed down her cheeks as Riley pulled her away from Michael, holding her.

"Um, they're working on her right now. She's in the ER." Michael said. "We're doing everything we can."

Jen sighed. "Michael, this is Marcie we're talking about! How is she?"

Michael glanced at his watch and was shocked to see that he'd been sitting in the lobby for almost an hour.

"I'll be right back, Jen." He said as he turned to go back to the emergency room.

"There you are, Dr. McBain. We've been looking for you." The doctor said. "We've moved her into ICU. She has a broken leg and three fractured ribs. They should heal on their own. We've bandaged her up, but it looks like she may be in a coma."

"H-how did this happen?" Michael asked, forgetting that the doctor had already told him.

"She was found unconscious on campus over at Llanview University. We don't know any specifics yet. Looks like it was some kind of attack."

Without a word, Michael rushed to the elevator and within minutes was at the ICU. He ran to the receptionist who was reading a magazine. "Marcie Walsh?" He asked breathlessly. The receptionist pointed to a glass window, directly across from the desk.

Michael walked into the room, which was eerily quiet except for the humming and beeping of the machines hooked up to her body. Even bandaged, she was still beautiful. She looked like an angel, sleeping softly. He pulled a chair next to her bed and sat down. He took her hand in his, lacing his fingers through hers.

"Oh Marcie. I'm sorry. This-this is my fault." He brushed her hair away from her face, revealing yet another bandage. He raised her hand to his mouth, kissing it softly. He wanted to take her in his arms and hold her forever. Instead, she laid there, bandages covering the cuts on her beautiful face. Pulling back the blanket, he saw the white cast covering her right leg. He couldn't resist running his fingers gently through her silky hair.

Suddenly he heard voices approaching. Afraid it was the doctor from the ER; he covered Marcie with the blanket and began reading the monitors. Jen and Riley came into the room.

"Oh my God…" Jen said, putting her hand over her mouth. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she threw herself into Riley's arms.

"How is she?" Riley asked.

Michael sighed. "Well, she's stable but we're hoping she'll wake up soon."

Jen broke away from Riley and walked over to the bed.

"Oh my god, Marcie…" She said, taking Marcie's hand.

She turned to Michael.

"This is our fault, you know. If Marcie hadn't seen us kissing…"

"Jen!" Riley said, giving Michael a sympathetic look.

Before Michael could respond, Vicki walked into the room.

"Oh Marcie…" she said, walking over to the bed. Gently she touched Marcie's hair. "I should have been able to stop this… I'm the President of the University."

"No, Viki. It wasn't your fault." Michael said, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you." Viki said. "There will definitely be an investigation over this. Oh I just can't believe it. This just breaks my heart."

"Well…" Michael said. "All this talk can't be good for Marcie. We should leave so she can be alone for a while. I'm sure the other doctors want to check her out."

Viki looked at her watch. "I should go anyway. I have a meeting at LU in the morning. I'll try to stop in later tomorrow, okay?"

Michael smiled. "I'm sure she'd like that."

"Goodbye,' Viki said as she turned to leave.

Riley looked over at Jen. "We really should go." He said.

Jen walked over to Marcie and took her hand. "Goodbye Marcie. I'll be back tomorrow." She started to cry as Riley escorted her out the door.

Michael followed them out to the elevators. "She's in good hands, okay?" He said to Jen. "We'll give her the best care possible."

"Thank you." Jen said taking Michael's hand. The elevator doors opened and Riley smiled at Michael as they got on and the doors closed.

Michael turned and walked back to Marcie's room. No one was around, so he went in and sat in the chair next to her bed. He took her hand, rubbing it gently with his fingers. "My God. Who would do something like this to you?" This was Marcie Walsh. She worked hard, cared about everyone and was extremely fond of his mom. He looked at his watch, seeing that he still had several hours before his shift ended. He wondered if anyone missed him. He'd hardly done any of his regular duties since Marcie was brought into the ER.

Sighing, he kissed her hand, stood and walked out the door, closing it behind him. He looked through the window at Marcie, who was still sleeping peacefully. "Goodnight, Marcie." He said, blowing her a kiss.