A/N: Thank you Jag Fan! I have corrected the error now in chapter one. Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

CHAPTER 2

Mac's eyes slowly fluttered open. The lights were dim and she felt a thin mattress beneath her. The room was filled with the smell of antiseptics. Mac tried to cough, but something was blocking her throat.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a young nurse checking a machine by her bed. Mac attempted to speak yet that same something still prevented it. She began to move her hands to get the nurse's attention, but she jerked too quickly and felt something pull from her arm.

This finally grabbed the nurse's attention and she swiftly moved to correct the issue. Reinserting what Mac now saw was an IV, the nurse explained, "Ms. Mackenzie, you're in the ICU. Don't try to talk; you're on a respirator to help you breathe. This IV is keeping fluids in you. Would you like to try to write?"

Mac nodded her head 'yes' as much as she could. The petite nurse gave her a pen and held out a clipboard for her to write on. Mac's vision was limited because of the respirator and she couldn't see what she was writing.

When she was finished, the nurse studied the paper for a moment before showing Mac what she had written. It was full of scribbles.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Mackenzie, but I can't read this," she gave Mac a soothing look and tried to cheer her up, "Your fiancée has been here day and night since you were brought in. You're very lucky; he kept you alive until the ambulance came…" She went on talking while she worked, checking this or that on Mac.

Mac's confusion grew as she caught snippets of the nurse's ramblings, 'Day and night? How long have I been here?'

"…and a doctor to boot! He must be hard to hang onto! I know if I could keep a man as devoted as your fiancée is to you…"

'What is she talking about? Mic's not a doctor.'

"…and don't be alarmed if you can't feel your leg; we've put you on a morphine drip. It was basically shattered, but you had an excellent surgeon to put it back together…"

Mac was getting the impression that maybe this nurse wasn't the most tactful. It was almost as though the nurse needed to fill the quiet by being a Chatty Cathy, not that Mac minded however. She was getting very useful, if puzzling, information.

"…okay, now I'm going to reposition your leg a little big, so you may experience some discomfort…"

After a few seconds, Mac thought, 'Holy Mother of…this is not discomfort! This is pain!"

Mac once again awakened in a hospital room; however, it was not the one she recognized from her earlier encounter. The lights were brighter here and she was no longer hooked up to a ventilator.

Surveying the immediate area, Mac noticed a strange figure slumped over the edge of her bed. Lifting her fingers, she gently ran a few fingertips over his unfamiliar curly locks.

She cleared her throat, noting how good it felt to not be on the ventilator, and attempted to speak, "Sir? Um, excuse me?" Her throat was dry and raspy, but it did the trick.

The man began stirring and lifted his dark locks off the bed. His deep green eyes connected with hers for a moment before he realized the significance of the situation.

He quickly broke the gaze and Mac wondered if she had seen guilt in his eyes. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be here."

He practically flew from his chair and Mac knew she had to do something, "Wait! Please…I need some answers."

The man turned back to her and slowly retraced his steps, "You're right, I'm sorry. My name is Mark Bryant. I'm the one who ran you over Tuesday night."

His bluntness startled Mac, but she liked it, "Can you get me some ice chips?"

Surprise showed on Mark's face, clearly having expected her yell at him or kick him out. He obeyed, though, and Mac was thankful for the cool relief the ice brought to her throat.

"How long have I been here?" Mac was sure it probably was crazy to be making conversation with the man who put her in the hospital, but she needed some things filled in for her and thought he would be obligated to help.

Mark wrung his hands nervously, most likely not knowing what to expect from Mac, but sat down and went with her lead, "A week. They took you off the ventilator at three days and just moved you out of the ICU two days ago. They also stopped sedating you."

Mac processed this, "Has anyone contacted my fiancée or boss?"

Mark's face reddened in embarrassment. "Well, uh, you see-"

Mark was cut off by another man's voice, "Ah, Ms. Mackenzie, you're awake," the older man, obviously a doctor, acknowledged Mark, "And I'm happy to see that you've finally gotten some sleep Dr. Bryant. It seems your lovely fiancée will be needing you well rested now that she's up."

Mac's eyes grew wide at this, but the doctor went on before she could interrupt.

"You're very lucky to be alive, Ms. Mackenzie. Dr. Bryant is to thank for that," he smiled at Mark. "Your left leg is broken in six places, but should heal in six to eight weeks. The good news is that the damage to your kidneys was not severe, but your abdomen sustained quite a bit of bruising and swelling.

"There was also some internal bleeding that we took care of. The big danger was the head damage, but your CT came back clean. You have a fractured skull that had major swelling, which thankfully we managed to reduce significantly. We are going to run some more tests to make sure that there will not be any long-term mental deficits.

"But all in all, you should be just fine in a couple of months, Ms. Mackenzie."

Mark sighed audibly in relief, while Mac took all of her injuries in. A beeper went off and the doctor excused himself.

Now just the two of them, Mac wanted to revisit the whole 'fiancée' comment. "So you're my fiancée now? Did I miss something, or do I have some memory loss, too?"