RJ woke up the following day with a painful, tight, burning sensation in his chest, and knew exactly what was wrong. He'd gone completely over the top with Lily the previous night and he knew it.

He sat on the edge of his bed gathering his thoughts as he tried to will himself to get out of bed. He knew he had to get up, he had a restaurant to run, but he couldn't face Lily after the way he'd spoken to her. He knew how badly his words had hurt her, he'd reduced her to tears, he knew that much, but he couldn't help it. His crippling fear of losing her had turned into a boiling rage that completely overshadowed his judgement. It was as though he was merely a passenger along for the ride when his mouth started throwing abuse at her. He knew he'd have to apologise at some point, he just wasn't looking forward to it.

Heading for the bathroom, he glanced over at the door to her bedroom. He wanted to go in and check on her, but he was sure she was still asleep. She probably wouldn't want to talk to him right now anyway, and he couldn't blame her for that. He'd been a complete jerk to her last night. He made his way into the bathroom and began running his shower to get it to temperature. He was stopped in his tracks as he noticed a bandage lying on the sink. Picking it up, he realised Lily must have left it there when she changed her dressing the day before.

He looked at himself in the mirror with a long sigh as he put the dressing back in the sink. He felt lousy, and he knew he deserved to. This was not going to be a pleasant day. The knot building up in his gut told him he was due some serious karmic payback, but it couldn't make him feel any worse than he already did.

Lily woke up, still feeling completely crushed by the events of the night before. She released her grasp on the leather bound book, replacing it in the drawer of her bedside table as she slowly came to. She could still remember the savage anger in RJ's voice as he screamed at her; every painful word came rushing back to her. She knew she'd let him down, and it tore her apart to think that he didn't respect her any more. That he was ashamed of her. She recalled her confession to herself that night, which made her feel even worse.

She'd fallen for RJ in a big way; she'd been spending so much more time with him since the accident that she'd gotten to know him a lot more. He made her feel important, special in a way no one else ever had. When she talked with him, it was as if everything she had to say was the most important thing in the world to him. She could tell him anything, confident that he wouldn't judge her or think badly of her. She was able to open up to him about things she'd never told anyone. Any time he had held her in his arms she felt safe, warm and confident. He gave her hope when she was ready to give up on herself several times now. He was always able to help ease her pain, in his arms she felt like nothing could ever harm her. He wouldn't allow anything to happen to her.

Of course, none of that mattered anymore. RJ had made that perfectly clear when he chastised her for going after Camille. He'd called her stupid and pig-headed. He thought she was a disappointment, a failure. Her heart sank in her chest as she pulled the covers back over herself and began to weep into her pillow. She was in no mood to face anyone today, least of all RJ.

RJ was in the kitchen, preparing ingredients for the lunchtime rush. His mind was far from focussed on the task at hand, something that was obvious as Casey came down the stairs, finding RJ lost in thought.

"So when are we expecting the Seventh Cavalry?" He asked. RJ stared at him blankly.

"What do you mean?" He asked in return.

"Don't you think you've prepared a little much?" Casey suggested. RJ looked down at the chopping board he was grating cheese onto. He'd already gone through one industrial-sized block, and had gone about half way through a second without even realising it. Shredded cheese now covered most of the work surface, and some had even fallen to the floor.

"Damn it!" He grunted, realising that he'd probably end up wasting a good portion of it.

"Where's your head at?" Casey laughed as RJ began clearing up and putting the cheese into Ziploc bags. He didn't answer, he knew exactly where his head was at, and it sure as hell wasn't in the restaurant with him, it was upstairs with a certain blonde girl who had cried herself to sleep last night because of him. Finishing up, he grabbed a kitchen knife and some peppers and began hacking away at them aggressively.

"You might want to calm down a bit." Casey told him. "It was Camille that kidnapped you, not those peppers."

"I'm fine." RJ grumbled, continuing to butcher the vegetables roughly.

"Look, there's nothing to feel bad about." Casey reassured him. "Camille's tricked us a couple of times. I'd probably have fallen for it."

"I'm not upset about being tricked." RJ muttered, looking up from his work. "Now, could you find something to do? Preferably somewhere…argh bloody hell!"

"Jeez RJ, watch what you're doing." Casey chastised him as he ran the tap for RJ to clean the self-inflicted wound. Bright red blood started to flow from a deep gash in his fingers as the knife slipped.

RJ grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his hand, halting the flow of blood. "Casey, it looks like this will require stitches. Would you mind finishing off in here?" He asked.

"No problem." He answered, holding the door open as RJ sprinted out of the kitchen. He looked at the work surface and grabbed some kitchen towel and disinfectant spray. He'd already resigned himself to the fact that RJ wasn't going to be much use today, even before he'd hurt himself. It was obvious from the way he was acting that his head wasn't in the game. At least nothing serious had happened, the way RJ was sleepwalking through his shift, he'd probably have ended up burning the place down.

Theo was taking in the morning paper when Fran arrived for her shift. Coming over behind him, she couldn't help staring as he was bending over to retrieve the paper. Standing up and turning round, Theo jumped as he suddenly realised Fran was standing there.

"Jeez, give me a bit of warning next time." He stated, clearly startled. "I must have lost about ten years there."

"Sorry, I guess I should have given you a bit more warning." She replied, wrapping her arms around him. "I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed myself last night."

"Yeah, sorry things didn't go to plan." Theo said apologetically. "I really didn't intend for our first date to be here."

"Well I suppose we could always try again." She responded. "Besides, I loved it. I never knew you were such a good cook."

"Cooking was one of the essential skills they made us study at Pai Zhuq." He explained. "Master Mao always maintained that we should know how to take care of ourselves, and figured that being able to feed ourselves was as much a part of that as being able to defend ourselves in a fight."

"Well I can't say that I'm complaining that meal last night was amazing." She complimented him. "I guess I've managed to bag myself a modern man."

"Modern man, so that's your kind eh?" He teased her, holding her closely. "I suppose I could live with that."

"Guys, get in here." Casey called out from the kitchen as RJ pushed his way past them. "RJ's going to the hospital; I could really use your help."

"What happened?" Fran asked him as they both got to the kitchen.

"He wasn't concentrating and his knife slipped." Casey informed them as he finished off cleaning up the blood. "He's lucky he still has a full compliment of fingers."

"How is he?" Theo inquired.

"He seems to be ok, but he thinks he'll need stitches." Casey answered. "Now, could someone help me with the vegetables?"

RJ arrived at the hospital a little while later, rushing in through the entrance lobby.

"What can I help you with?" The receptionist asked him. RJ held up his wrapped hand.

"I had an accident in the kitchen." He informed her. "Could I see someone?"

"A doctor will be with you shortly." She replied. "Take a seat."

RJ sat down, holding the cloth around his hand tightly. He couldn't believe he'd cut himself, it had been years since he'd had any kind of accident like that, he was normally so careful. 

He knew, of course, why it had happened. He was too busy thinking of Lily and the way he'd yelled at her. He hadn't seen her yet that day, but he knew he'd just feel even worse if he had. She'd been through so much lately, the last thing she needed was her master going completely insane and tearing her a new one. He hung his head, completely ashamed of himself and his behaviour. Seeing how badly his well-earned guilt trip had hit him, he vowed to apologise as soon as he got back.

"The doctor will see you now." The receptionist informed him. "It's the second door on the left."

"Thanks." RJ replied as he got off the seat and made his way to the examination room.

"What can I do for you?" The doctor asked as he arrived. He was slightly taken aback as he saw her. He didn't have a problem with women being doctors; he just didn't know any women who looked like THIS were doctors.

She was about five foot seven with an incredible figure. Her long, blonde hair was pulled back into a neat pony tail which hung almost halfway down her back. Her bright blue eyes were accentuated by small, designer frame reading glasses. She gestured for him to sit down. As he did so, he couldn't help taking the opportunity to take another look at her. He noticed that she wasn't wearing a wedding ring, which was one thing at least.

"So what can I call you?" She asked him as she looked out some equipment. "I find Mr and Mrs X so formal."

"I'm RJ." He replied. "And you are?"

"Dr Michaela Hill, but everyone calls me Mike." She told him, shaking his one good hand. She carefully unwrapped his other, inspecting the wound. "Well there doesn't seem to be nerve damage, but it will need stitches."

"I thought it would." He told her, holding his hand in position. "I wasn't paying attention."

"So where do you work?" She asked him. "The whites, the knife injury, I'm guessing you're a chef."

"I am." He replied. "I own Jungle Karma Pizza."

"Oh I love that place!" She yelped excitedly. "I go there ALL the time. At least once a week, I love the Thrilla Gorilla, what made you decide to put bananas on a pizza?"

"I have kind of a fixation on bananas." He chuckled as she prepared the needle.

"Would you like a local anaesthetic?" She asked him as she chuckled at his last comment.

"No thanks." He said, shrugging casually. He kind of got the idea he might be onto something with this, and he didn't want to look like a wimp. Mike smiled at him.

"So, I see from your medical records you aren't married." She commented, biting her lip slightly as she looked at him awaiting his response. RJ started grinning as he noticed this reaction. She was obviously fishing for information.

"I haven't gotten around to it." He told her as she began stitching. Feeling the needle plunge through his flesh, he kind of regretted not taking the anaesthetic, though by now it was too late, if he wimped out now, he'd definitely lose some respect points. He tried to focus his mind on something other than the pain. He glanced again at her left hand, confirming his earlier finding that there was no wedding ring.

"I see you're not wearing a wedding ring." He pressed on, hoping to get a rise out of her. "I suppose in your line of work you take it off before your shift to make sure it doesn't end up inside a patient."

"I'm not married." She replied with a small, nervous giggle. RJ was doing back flips in his mind as she said this. She was clearly taking an interest in him, and it looked like she might be on the market. "With my shift patterns, I don't get a whole lot of time to date."

"You should try running a restaurant." RJ responded with a chuckle. "I swear some days just kind of disappear without a trace."

"That sounds familiar." She stated, finishing up and tying off the end. Taking a pair of scissors, she snipped off the trailing end, before searching her drawers for some dressings. "Every now and again we have to pull 24 hour shifts; by the end of it I look like an extra from 'dawn of the dead'."

"That can't be fun." RJ agreed. She started to tape a dressing over his stitches. Seeing his Order of the Claw tattoo, she looked at him quizzically.

"What's this?" She asked. "Were you in a gang or something?"

"More like a club." RJ told her. He noticed a little relief in her face as he said this. She probably wouldn't have been interested if she thought he was a gang member. "I got it when I was young."

"Well we all have embarrassing souvenirs from our youth." She responded. "I have a few scars from my rather disastrous attempt to become a dancer."

"Oh come on, I'm sure with a body like that you move amazingly." He replied cheekily. He noticed her turn a bit pink as he complimented her. He thought about what she'd look like dancing, but suddenly found himself instead imagining Lily. He had seen her dance many times in the back room, and he always found her amazing. He shook his head as he tried to get his mind back on the task at hand. Why was he thinking about Lily? He was sitting in front of probably the most amazing looking doctor in the western hemisphere, she appeared to be flirting with him, and he was thinking about Lily? What the hell was wrong with him? She was hot!

"The mind was willing, but the feet have the grace and elegance of a crippled bull elephant." She answered, finishing off his dressing. "Look, I don't normally do this, but I was wondering. Are you going out with anyone?"

"I am." He blurted out before he could stop himself. Why did he say that? He wasn't dating anyone; hell, he hadn't had a date in years! So why when he was about to seal the deal with this amazing looking woman did he do something stupid like that? He saw the look of disappointment on Mike's face. He wanted to backtrack, but he knew he'd never be able to recover the situation now. If he tried to tell her he had made a mistake telling her he was involved with another person, she'd think he was either a player or an idiot. He resigned himself to the fact he'd blown it. "You did an amazing job."

"Thanks." She replied, turning away to hide her embarrassment. She'd put herself out there, only to get shot down. She couldn't believe she'd misread the situation so badly. She was sure he was flirting with her. She handed him a packet of dressings. "You'll need to change the dressings each day. Come back in about a week to get the stitches out."

RJ took out a business card and handed it to her. He felt bad about rejecting her like that, but even worse about the fact he'd blown it with her. "Maybe I can sort you out with a free Thrilla Gorilla." He suggested.

"Maybe." Mike sighed, putting away her equipment. "I'll probably see you around."

"I hope so." He answered as he left. Walking down the corridor, he still couldn't believe what had happened. He'd flirted with her throughout the entire examination, and not only did she seem to respond well to it, she was flirting back. Hell she all but asked him out, so why did he blow it by saying he was going out with someone when he wasn't? He remembered that everything seemed to go downhill right after she mentioned wanting to be a dancer. As soon as she said that, he started seeing images of Lily in his mind. When she asked him if he was going out with anyone, the words flew out of his mouth before he could think. But it still puzzled him that he would make that mistake. Resigning himself to the fact that it was just another chapter in the book entitled 'the potential dates RJ managed to blow before they started' and made his way back to the restaurant.

Fran was cooking up an omelette as the orders started coming in. Theo came over to her with a couple of checks.

"You do know we are a pizza parlour right?" He asked her. Fran gave him a sideways glance as he commented on her making something not on the menu.

"It's for Lily." She told him. "It's midday?"

Theo shrugged and looked at her a little confused. Fran rolled her eyes. "She went to bed last night before five. She didn't have anything to eat yesterday, and she hasn't come out of her bedroom all morning, she hasn't eaten in hours!"

Theo looked away, realising she was right. He hadn't seen Lily since she and RJ had returned the previous night. He was amazed she hadn't come to him; she normally talked to him about everything.

"She likes her eggs over-easy." He informed Fran. She smirked back at him.

"If we weren't together I'd be jealous." She told him. "I think it's sweet you know how she likes her eggs."

"I'll find out how you like yours if you want." He whispered in her ear, placing his hands softly on her hips as he spoke. She shrunk a little in his grasp, feeling herself melt at his touch.

"Benedict." She told him. "I love eggs Benedict." With that, she tipped the contents of the pan onto a plate, and carried it upstairs, only stopping at the top of the stairs to blow him a kiss. Casey arrived at this point and began miming retching. This only earned him a rat-tail with a damp service cloth from Theo.

Fran chapped the door to Lily's door softly, opening the door slowly as she nervously made her way inside. Lily had the covers over her, and didn't seem to register the fact that Fran had come into the room. She came over to the edge of the bed and nudged Lily gently.

"I've brought you some breakfast." She stated, holding the plate close.

"I'm not hungry." She croaked in return, not even looking at her friend. RJ's rant had hurt her deeply, and she couldn't think about anything, much less eating at this time. She just wanted to be alone.

"I'll leave it on your table." Fran told her, setting the plate down, rattling it gently so that Lily would know where it was and touching her shoulder. "It's there if you want it."

Lily waved her off over her shoulder. She didn't want to see anyone, she felt so useless that she couldn't face anyone. Fran however was not to be denied. She sat down on the bed, and peeled back the covers, exposing Lily's head. She tried to pull covers back, but Fran stopped her.

"We're all really worried about you, please, just have something to eat and come downstairs. We'd all really love to see you." She told her. Lily snuggled further into her protective canvas cocoon.

"Leave me alone." She whispered. "Please, just go."

She gave in to the fact that Lily was not in the mood to talk. Fran simply got up and left the room, closing the door softly as she left. She felt bad for Lily. Theo had explained that she'd gone off on her own to find RJ, and that RJ had had a rather heated discussion with her about her decision. Her sympathy soon disappeared as her thoughts turned to RJ. Whatever he'd said, Lily's current mood was his fault, and she wasn't about to stand there and do nothing 

while Lily let herself waste away in self-pity. RJ couldn't have picked a worse moment to arrive back in the restaurant as Fran got back to the kitchen.

"It's just stitches." He told them. "I'll be..."

His words were cut off, while Theo and Casey were stunned into silence as Fran stormed up to her boss and slapped him hard across the face. Even she was shocked that she'd done it. RJ started rubbing his cheek as it turned red and began to sting.

"What the hell have you said to Lily?" She snapped. "She hasn't come out of her room all day, she's devastated!"

RJ couldn't say anything in response. More than the shock of having Fran of all people attack him like that, the thing that stung him the most was the fact that she was right. He was out of order and he knew it. "I'll talk to her in a while." He replied, attempting to move past her. Fran sidestepped with him to place herself in his path.

"If you still want to have any staff left when you get downstairs, you'll go and talk to her right now!" She warned him. He looked over to Theo and Casey. While he knew them working there was a part of their cover as Rangers, he knew how loyal they were to Lily, and that they probably would back Fran up on her threat. He sighed deeply as he stood in the kitchen, confronted by his team. He had to admit, if the situations were reversed, he'd probably be much the same way. He placed a hand on Fran's shoulder.

"I'll talk to her." He told her, heading for the stairs. Fran watched him go, the expression of anger never slipping from her face. Theo came over to her.

"Remind me never to piss you off." He commented.

RJ gently knocked on Lily's door and made his way inside. Seeing her cocooned in covers, as though trying to bury herself to hide from the world, his heart all but shattered. He came over to the side of the bed and sat down, gently placing a hand on her back and beginning to stroke her gently. She stirred a little at his touch.

"Lily, I'm really sorry." He began, struggling to find the words as he felt every inch of his chest ache. Karma was not kind to him, but then again he didn't deserve anything less. "I was way out of line the way I spoke to you last night."

"I let you down." She muttered.

"You may not have made the smartest decision, but I understand why you did it." He replied. "I was so scared I would lose you, I was hardly able to think. When we got out of there, I was so relieved that you were safe I just...I let my emotions got the better of me. I should never have shouted at you that way. I knew I was going to do something I'd regret, I should have left it alone until I calmed down. I'm sorry."

"I know I'm a disappointment to you." She whimpered her voice small and weak as she pulled further into herself. RJ cursed himself for doing this to her.

"You've never disappointed me one day since you came here." He told her. "If anything, I've let you down. Can you forgive me for being a jerk?"

She nodded her head gently. She could never hold anything against RJ; she cared about him too much. He noticed the plate of breakfast on her table.

"It looks like Fran went to a lot of effort over this." He told her. "Would you like some?"

Lily turned over, and pulled herself into a seating position. RJ handed her the plate and her cutlery.

"I guess you needed that." He remarked as she began shovelling the food down quickly. Lily only nodded in response since her mouth was full. Her stomach had all but started screaming for sustenance during her self-imposed fast. RJ brushed some hair out of her face as she continued eating, instantly feeling his heart lifting as he realised that at least he'd started to mend some bridges with her. As Lily finished, he took the plate from her, placing it back on the table and hugged her tightly. She smiled as she once again felt that wonderful, warm glow she always did in his embrace. Releasing her, he looked at her once more. She meant so much to him, it had torn him apart knowing that he had hurt her, but at least now she could once again greet him with that wonderful, bright smile of hers that made him feel amazing, each and every time he saw it.

"I guess I should probably get dressed now." She stated.

"Maybe later, right now I've got something more important to do." He told her. He reached into her dresser, and pulled out her book. Opening it to a random chapter, be began reading.

Lily settled back down into the covers as he started the story. His soft, soothing voice made her heart swell with joy as he read from the book she loved so much.

RJ noticed Lily smile as he read, and felt the tightness in the chest melt away. He felt better now that he had begun to make amends with Lily. He knew she would forgive him eventually, and it made his day to see her so cheerful again. He couldn't help smiling as he thought about her. He'd almost amputated half his hand, fumbled his first potential date in years and had the taste slapped out of his mouth by one of his employees, but on the whole, this wasn't a bad day. Making her smile again made it all worth it.