Thanks again for all of the reviews. I can't believe I've completed twelve stories. :o)

Chapter 10

The next morning String sat in Caitlin's hospital room and held her hand. Her face was bruised on one side and her eye was slightly swollen. He thought she looked better than she did the night before. She had been unconscious since they brought her in. The doctor told them that she didn't have a concussion. She was mainly suffering from exhaustion as well as being slightly dehydrated.

When Caitlin woke up, String was smiling at her and squeezing her hand.

"Hey there," he said. "How're you feeling?"

Caitlin looked at him for a moment and then tears started rolling down her cheeks.

"What's the matter?" he asked. "Everything's okay now. You're going to be fine."

He stood up and sat on the side of her bed and leaned over and kissed her. "Shh… everything's okay Cailtin, please don't cry," he begged.

Caitlin continued to sob before finally speaking up. "It's gone," she said. "He took my ring. Now it's gone."

String leaned over and pulled her into a hug. "I know," he said. "I noticed it was gone."

"I'm so sorry String," she said. "I know it was your grandmother's. I couldn't stop him."

"It's okay Caitlin," he replied.

"But, you loved that ring," she said.

"I loved you wearing it," he replied kissing her once more. "I loved what it stood for but you're the one I love. The ring can be replaced, you can't."

"I loved wearing it too," she said quietly.

String eased her back down on the pillow and sat back up. "When we get back to California, how about we go shopping and get you a new one?" he asked. "You can help pick this one out."

Caitlin smiled at him. "Okay, I'd love that," she replied.

"Good, then it's settled," String said. "No more tears okay?"

"Okay," she replied. "I just want to get out of this hospital and get on with my vacation."

"Oh, I think that can be arranged," he said with a grin. "Actually, the doctor said he would try to release you later this afternoon. Dom and Saint John want to go out fishing again in the morning."

"I think I've had my share of boats for awhile," replied Caitlin. "Can we do something on land?"

"Sure, of course we can," he replied. "You can always try on that bikini again. It's a lot of fun to take off."

"Very funny," Caitlin said with a grin.

String felt relieved at seeing her smile. A few minutes later, Saint John and Dom came in to see her.

"You look a lot better," said Dom. "You sure are one gutsy lady to have jumped from that boat like that."

Caitlin smiled. "Thanks Dom," she replied. "I knew as soon as I saw Airwolf and not a boat that I had no other choice."

"Well, we're glad your okay," said Saint John.

"I heard you're going fishing tomorrow morning," said Caitlin. "I thought you had enough of the water by now."

"Oh no," replied Dom. "Now that we got rid of that dang box, we should be able to catch a lot of fish this time around."

"Dom, that box was not jinxed," said String.

"I don't know String," replied Saint John. "I'm beginning to think that Dom was right."

"How's that?" asked String.

"Well, they had the box and they ended up with all the back luck in the end," he said. "I got them in one shot and it was perfect. Caitlin was just far enough away that she wasn't hurt. I call that lucky."

"Me too," said Dom.

String looked at Caitlin and smiled. "I give up," he said. "Okay, it was bad luck. Hopefully it's now buried so far beneath the surface that no one will ever see it again."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAA

The next day, Dom and Saint John left really early for their fishing outing. String rolled over in bed and noticed he was alone. He heard Caitlin rattling around in the bathroom.

"Caitlin?" he asked. "Is everything okay?"

He heard her mumbling about something and decided to get up and check on her. When he walked in to the bathroom she was staring in the mirror.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he walked up behind her and put his arms around her.

"Oh, it's these stupid bruises." She said. "I look horrible."

String pulled her tightly to him and kissed the back of her neck. "Caitlin, it'll heal," he said. "Besides, you're always beautiful to me."

Caitlin laughed. "I see you're learning some things about women," she teased. "You're getting better at saying the right things at the right time."

String let go of her and turned her around to face him. He gently cupped her face before kissing her. "I meant every word," he said afterwards. "Now go and put that bikini back on!"

"String!" Caitlin yelled while slightly blushing. "Oh, okay."

A few minutes later Caitlin came back out of the bathroom wearing the string bikini. String smiled as she jumped back on the bed with him.

"Oh no," said String.

"What?" asked Caitlin before she heard it as well.

"String?" yelled Dom. "Hey String, where are you?"

"Stay right there," he told Caitlin as he got up and went into the other room, shutting the door behind him as he went.

"Dom, what are you two doing here?" he asked. "I thought you went fishing?"

"We did," replied Dom. "We were out there for three hours and didn't catch a thing. Turns out, the fishing had nothing to do with the box."

"I told you that," said Saint John.

"I don't believe you two," replied String. "But what I do believe is that the two of you are going to go back out and find something to do for the next two hours."

"Two hours?" asked Dom. "Why?"

String gave a look to Saint John who caught on immediately. "Uh, I'll explain it to you on the way out Dom," said Saint John. "Come on. We can go and check out the boardwalk."

As soon as they left, String quickly headed back to the bedroom. He opened the door and stood there staring at Caitlin. She was sound asleep.

String sighed. "Oh well," he said as he crawled into bed with her and pulled her close to him.

The End