I apologize profusely for the delay. Real life, unfortunately, got in the way for a while. I will try to finish this story ASAP.

Chapter 10

Jamie gritted his teeth as he pulled the small weight up to his chest. The physical therapist smiled encouragingly at him, and Jamie knew that he was pleased with the progress Jamie had been making. For Jamie, though, his recovery was not happening quickly enough. It had only been a couple weeks and, logically, Jamie knew that it would be several more before he was completely healed. He was lucky to be alive. He knew that.

But that didn't stop him from wanting things to be back to normal right now.

Now that the case was over and Jamie could go back to his normal life, that's all he could think about doing…when he wasn't thinking about Eddie that is. When he had been undercover, it hurt to be away from her, to lie to her, but the overwhelming drive to take down Bill's murderer had been so important that it outweighed the hurt. Now, though, he was free to be near her again and to tell her the truth.

But he was still in the hospital…and she refused to answer his calls.

Not that he could blame her. He had lied to her repeatedly about a pretty major thing. He knew she wouldn't understand that he had to do it. Bill's murder had obviously been the emotional catalyst for Jamie's involvement in the case, but when he learned of the opportunity to take down a company that funded terrorism, it had become even more important – and more dangerous. At first he didn't tell her anything because of all the unsaid secrets that were floating around them already, but he continued to not tell her because he would never have been able to live with himself if anything happened to her because of what he was doing.

He was pushing his recovery harder than he probably should, but he knew that the sooner he got out of here, the sooner he could get back to his actual job, and the sooner he could get back to Eddie. She wouldn't be able to avoid him quite so easily once they were both in the precinct. Jamie could only hope that he wasn't too late, that she would accept his apology. Even if he never had her love, he needed her friendship. Their last conversation in the hallway outside of his apartment played on repeat in his head and, in many ways, made him suffer more than his injuries did. The only difference was that he had some control over his recovery from his injuries – only Eddie had control over ending his suffering for her…

Jamie flipped the channels, unbelievably sick of both his hospital bed and daytime television. The doctors were optimistic that he would be able to leave in the next day or two, and Jamie could not wait. Family members came to visit every day, which helped to pass the time, but ultimately it also made it even more obvious who wasn't visiting him.

Speaking of visitors… Jamie turned off the TV and smiled at Katie as she walked in. He had heard she had been released from the hospital almost immediately, but that Danny and Intelligence had been taking up a lot of her time with interviews. Her testimony would be the icing on the cake of what Bill had been able to get for Intelligence before he had been killed.

"Hi, Jamie," she said softly, sitting in the chair by his bed.

"Hey."

They were silent for a moment, and she tentatively reached out to hold his hand. While it was quite clear they would never be in a romantic relationship, Jamie knew that they would forever have a connection because of the ordeal they went through. She didn't have to talk for him to know that she was reliving the hours they had spent in the warehouse together. He had been lucid for a little while before the blood loss had overtaken him, and during that time, he had kept her as calm as he could, given the situation.

"Thank you," Katie finally said with a tremor in her voice.

Jamie scoffed. "Why are you thanking me? I'm the one that put you in danger in the first place. I'm so sorry – I should never have dragged you into it with me."

Katie shook her head. "I'm glad you did. If I had known what the firm was doing…"

Jamie squeezed her hand but didn't say anything. He didn't know what to say.

Finally, he shook himself out of his thoughts. "I'm glad you came to visit. I was going stir-crazy in here."

Katie chuckled. "I know how you feel. They only kept me for a little while, and it was difficult! I can't imagine what it's been like for you."

"Tough…but mainly just because I want to finally get back to work."

"You miss the uniform that much, huh?

Jamie smiled, but refrained from saying what he actually missed. However, Katie could read him almost as well as Eddie could.

"Or is it a certain partner you're missing?"

"I never should have told you about her," Jamie sighed.

Katie laughed. "You had to give me some sort of reason for breaking my poor, little heart," she teased, and he rolled his eyes at her.

"Well, with how things have been going there, I may as well not have even bothered."

Katie frowned at him. "How are things going?"

"They're…not." Jamie shifted in the hospital bed, simultaneously uncomfortable talking about this but also desperate to talk about it with someone. "She won't talk to me at all."

"Why would she? I wouldn't talk to you if I were her."

Jamie shot her a sour look. "Gee, thanks, pal."

"What? It's true. You lied to her for weeks."

Jamie sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "I know."

"You never did tell me why you didn't tell her the truth. This whole situation with her could have been avoided…so why didn't you?"

Jamie avoided her eyes but didn't avoid her question. "It was just…easier to not have to worry about my relationship with her for a little while. Obviously not anymore – it's a lot harder now. But for a little while, at least, I was able to just pretend it wasn't there."

"And now?"

"Now. Now I want to talk to her so bad it hurts. I know you're right. Obviously you're right. She has every reason to be mad at me. But we were partners. You'd think she would still come see me at least once.

Katie's eyebrows furrowed. "She did."

Jamie shot her a look, confused but with a newfound surge of hope. "What do you mean?"

"She was here the night you were shot – sitting with your family."

"What? That's the first I heard of it."

"Yeah, I saw her when I came over to find out how you were doing." A slow grin grew on Katie's face. "Actually, she left pretty much right when I showed up."

"And this makes you smile because…?"

"You really don't know a lot about girls, do you?"

Jamie hesitated, looking at her with an expression that showed he was half-hopeful but couldn't let himself be completely optimistic about what she was saying. "What do you mean?"

"For all she knows, you and I are together, right?" Jamie nodded, and Katie's smile grew even more. "And then I show up at the hospital. Of course, she's going to jump to all the wrong conclusions."

Jamie grew pensive, debating how likely it was that Katie was right. He desperately wanted that to be the case – if the reason why Eddie wasn't talking to him was because she was jealous of Katie…then…that meant….that she was jealous.

Could Katie be right?

Maybe she was and maybe she wasn't. All Jamie knew was that he almost died, and he wasn't going to waste any more time not acting on his feelings. He had to take a shot with Eddie, and if she didn't feel the same way he did, then so be it.

And if she wasn't going to answer his phone calls, then that was even more of a reason why he had to get the hell out of this hospital and back to the precinct.