Rayna headed home from her meeting with Bucky. She could have just had it at the house, but honestly, she needed to get out. Deacon had been home from the hospital for two weeks, and although he was getting better, he had been very ornery. That morning she told him she was going to meet Bucky and that he needed to take a shower and call Scarlett to come take him up to the hospital for his blood test.

Of course she had called Scarlett ten minutes earlier to ask if she wouldn't mind picking up her uncle and Scarlett was happy to do it. But Deacon didn't need to know that. Instead she wanted to see if he would take the initiative to do anything for himself.

She had tried to talk to Tandy about it, but couldn't seem to find the right words. It wasn't that Deacon was helpless or acting helpless, but he just had no drive. No fire. No will.

She pulled into the driveway and got out of her car. No sign of Scarlett, so either Deacon had refused to make plans with her or they were still at the appointment. She figured it was 50/50 either way.

She walked into the kitchen and was pleased to be met with silence. There was a note on the counter in Deacon's nearly illegible scribble saying that they were going to the appointment and then to have lunch with Gunnar.

Rayna looked around the quiet house and thought about her conversation with Bucky that morning. He had asked when she was going to be ready to rebook the tour. She didn't have an answer for him yet. She just didn't know what the future was going to hold.

"Hey."

Rayna turned around to find Deacon standing in the entrance to the kitchen.

"Hey," she replied, a smile crossing her face. He looked like Deacon-his denim shirt hugging his body. He was still thin, but he had lost the sheen of illness that had hung over him before the transplant. "How was lunch?"

"Nice, good to be out amongst the living again. Scarlett took me to the Southern. I've definitely missed their shrimp and grits."

"Mmmm," Rayna replied. "We definitely need a date night down there before too long-maybe in one of those curved booths in the corner, so we can do some hand holding under the table."

"Maybe so," Deacon responded. "Doc said things look good. She's willing to back off on the steroids. Said it should make me feel a little more like myself. But the other…" His voice trailed off as he turned and hurried from the room.

"Deacon?" she called out as he headed for the steps and up to their room. She followed him, into the room and then the bath. "Babe?"

Deacon pushed the door closed before she could get there. "Just go away, Rayna. I'm fine...I'm just...just go away."

She stepped back from the door and went into their room and sat on the bed. She waited for a few minutes, then when the shower went on, she slid off her shoes and lay down on the bed. When the door opened, she sat up.

"You sure you're okay?" she asked.

Deacon shook his head, the towel wrapped around his waist. She could still see every rib on his body. She patted the bed and he sat down next to her.

"What was that about?" she asked.

"Grits didn't agree with me," he replied, his head bowed down.

She slid her hand up to rub along his neck and shoulders. "It's just the medication, Deacon."

His eyes still down cast, he tipped his head to look at her. "I hate this, Ray. I still feel so...I feel so incapacitated and I don't want you and Scarlett and Maddie and Daphne taking care of me."

Rayna slid her arm down so it was around his waist and pulled him close to her. "But do you realize what that's meant-having to take care of you and everything?"

Deacon looked over at her and shrugged.

"Deacon, you've looked out for me and for our family for as long as I can remember...which as we know isn't all that long, but you have always been there. You nursed me back to life after our accident and you gave me my family again. You did that. And I love you for it, but it's been hard for me, not knowing for sure if I could do it on my own and I didn't want to, cause I never want to be without you.

"Except these past few months and especially now, since the surgery, I've been the one who has had to take care of things, of our family and you. And I wish that we had never had this happen to us, but I love that I'm able to do this for you...for us.

"You are a terrible patient, Deacon Claybourne, but you're allowed. For one more week. And then we have some things to decide about," Rayna finished.

"Such as?" Deacon asked.

Rayna smiled at him. "Such as the tour...do I go out with you as my band leader and we play the stuff from the album we dropped last year or…"

"Or?" Deacon asked.

"Or do we go back into the studio, write and record something completely new and we go out together. Like we planned to in the old days before all this other stuff happened."

Deacon rubbed his hand across his face, then turned and smiled at her. "I think I'd like to do that, Ray. I mean, I love making music with you. Nothin's ever been better than that."

Rayna nodded. "Okay, then pack your bags. Teddy and the girls are going out to California to see his mom for her birthday and we're going to the cabin. You need a guitar and a bunch of charts. I told Bucky we'd be ready for the studio in two weeks."

Deacon shook his head at her. "I don't think you're supposed to put me under any undue stress during my recovery."

Rayna leaned in and kissed him. "You'll be fine."


Rayna lifted the last box from the back of the Escalade as Deacon watched.

"You should have let me take that little one," he chided her.

She shook her head and shifted the box of groceries to get a better hold on it. "You are not supposed to lift more than five pounds and there was nothing in here that was less than five pounds. Go hold that door for me. This is actually pretty heavy."

Deacon walked ahead of her and held open the door. She went past him and straight into the kitchen where she set the box on the counter. "What you can do is rub my back after I get everything where it needs to be."

Deacon walked up behind her and slid his arms around her. "If it doesn't strain me too much, I'm happy to do that." He pulled her around so that she was facing him and leaned in to kiss her. "Might be something else I can do for you, later, if it doesn't strain me too much."

Rayna laughed and leaned in to kiss him a second time. "Think you've reached that stage of your recovery, do you?"

"I don't remember relations being strictly prohibited by the doctor," Deacon replied.

Rayna pushed past him and went to put the cans of food in the cupboard. "Oh, you asked Dr. Andrews about that?"

"She said that if I felt up to it, then there was no reason not to."

"And does this mean…" Rayna started.

"That if I take a nap this afternoon, I might just be feeling up to it later today," Deacon explained.

"In that case," Rayna said, "why don't you at least walk down to the lake for some exercise and then you can have your nap, but you should also remember that we're here to work."

"So, you don't want any special time?" Deacon teased.

Rayna shook her head. "Just go take your walk."

As Deacon headed out the door, she smiled. She had wondered at what point he might be interested in being intimate again. She knew that he was self-conscious about the scar-he'd been closing the door between the bedroom and bath each night when he got ready, sleeping in shorts and a t-shirt every night in a way that was very unDeacon.

Maybe being at the cabin was just the change in scenery they both needed.

TBC