"Stop it Will," she would whisper into his earpiece some nights. She could see him worrying and fretting and stewing over all the possibilities. Sometimes, during commercial breaks, she could almost feel the tension rolling off him in waves. It was as if every show was a countdown to him. A reminder that he only had five, then four, then three shows left to do with her.

When the day arrived for her to check into the hospital Will was practically frantic with nervous energy. He ran around checking that she had all her prescription bottles to show the nurses what medications she was on, and that all her pre-surgical paperwork was filled out properly and her bag was packed. In all honesty, she was somewhat thankful for his neurotic tendencies. Keeping Will calm was a full-time job these days…she had no time to worry herself.

"Mackenzie?" a doctor asked as she pulled back the curtain around the hospital bed.

"Yes," Mac replied.

"Hi, I'm Michelle Tanaka. I'll be your anesthesiologist today. I just need to take a listen to your heart and lungs and ask you to confirm a few things on your medical chart for me," the woman in scrubs informed them.

"How old are you?" Will nearly shouted, standing up and towering over the slight woman as if he could intimidate her with his height.

"Old enough to have graduated college, med school and a three year internship program. I've worked at this hospital for nearly eight years Mr. McAvoy and I assure you I am very good at what I do. Now, can I attend to your wife please?" the doctor asked patiently.

"Sit Will," Mackenzie said through clenched teeth and pulled him down beside her. He grumbled something about kids being allowed into medical school and having no respect for their elders and she tried to hold in her laughter.

"This surgery will probably be at least four hours. You can make yourself comfortable in the surgical waiting room. The cafeteria is on the second floor, but if you want to survive the day I recommend the deli across the street or the Starbucks on the corner. Relax sir, she's in good hands," the doctor assured Will.

"Come here," Mackenzie urged. He stood over her head and grabbed her hand.

"I love you," he told her firmly, trying to hold back tears.

"I know. I love you too. And I'm going to be fine Will. I'll see you in a few hours and I expect a caramel macchiato to be waiting for me when I wake up," she said cheekily, poking him in the side. He nodded wordlessly.

"Will, stop it! You're going to give yourself a heart attack. Now, give me a kiss and let's get this show on the road!" she urged. He leaned down and kissed her softly.

"Don't you dare die on me Mackenzie McHale-McAvoy. I've waited too long for us….you can't go screwing it up now," he told her urgently.

"You think I'd let you off that easily? I fully expect years of extravagant anniversary presents. Start planning now William," she replied. "I love you and I'll see you soon."

Will just nodded and watched them wheel her away. He found Michael, Meggie and Sloan sitting in the waiting room down the hall.

"She'll be fine Will. She's tough," Sloan assured him. She tried to lay a comforting hand on his shoulder but he pulled away and walked over toward the windows, leaning his head against the glass and saying a prayer to a God he hadn't talked to in years.

"Please, don't take her away now," he whispered urgently. Hours passed and he barely moved from that spot. Michael and Meggie and Sloan all tried to bring him coffee or coax him to take a walk, but he wouldn't move.

"There's something wrong," he said a few hours later, when no one had come to talk to them.

"Will, I'm sure she's fine. It's just taking a little longer than they thought," Michael said firmly, even though he was starting to look a little unsettled himself.

"I'm telling you there is something wrong with Mackenzie," he responded, pacing up and down the hallway. He was ready to grab the first intern or nurse he saw and rip them limb from limb if they didn't tell him something. Just then a petite young woman in scrubs ran into the room and pulled him aside.

"Is there any possibility that your wife was taking any medications that weren't listed on her pre-surgery paperwork?" the young nurse asked.

"No, I looked at the paperwork myself and I showed the anesthesiologist all of Mackenzie's pill bottles. I know everything she takes. Now what the hell is wrong with my wife?" he shouted, attracting the attention of everyone within twenty feet.

"She's bleeding a little more than would be considered normal for a surgery of this type. We're pushing more fluids right now and we need you to sign some permission forms for blood transfusions. We're doing everything we can to keep her stable and the orthopedic surgeon is trying to close her incision as quickly as possible so we can get her off anesthesia. Try not to worry Mr. McAvoy."

He signed the forms as fast as he could, feeling like her life was somehow in his hands right now, that any hesitation on his part could mean disaster for her. He sank into a chair and let his head drop into his hands and started saying every Hail Mary and rosary prayer he could remember from Catholic school. He didn't even realize he was rocking silently back and forth.

"Will?" Sloan asked hesitantly.

"Please don't touch me, Sloan. I can't really handle anyone but Mackenzie touching me right now and she's not here and she might never be here and I don't think I can not push you away from me if you touch me right now," he said in a low careful tone.

"She'll be fine Will," Sloan assured him, praying to God it was the truth. This man would never survive losing her again.

Another hour ticked by and Will retreated further and further into himself. Anyone who tried to comfort or talk to him was rebuffed.

"Mr. McAvoy?" a nurse asked as she crouched down next to him and lightly touched him arm. He recoiled so quickly that she almost fell over.

"Mackenzie?" he asked desperately.

"She's in recovery. She lost a lot of blood and she's going to be here for a couple of days longer than anticipated, but she's doing well," the nurse told them all.

"Can I see her?" he nearly begged.

"Come with me," the nurse beckoned.

Will wasn't prepared for how small and fragile she looked. She was wrapped up in so many blankets he could barely make out her form. She had an oxygen mask over her face and tubes and wires everywhere.

"We're trying to keep her warm because of the blood loss and her pulse ox. is a little low so we've got the oxygen mask on her right now. Later tonight, or early tomorrow she'll look a lot better…trust me. You can talk to her you know. She can hear you," the nurse urged and pushed him forward.

He took her hand and sat near her head and stared at her in wonder and worry.

"You promised me nothing would happen Mackenzie. You lied. I'll forgive you for that if you never scare me like this again," he said. "You can wake up any time, you know?"

She slept away…totally oblivious to his distress. But she was so very aware of the hand grasping hers and it made her feel safe and warm and loved.

No one could move Will from her side the rest of the night so finally they stopped trying. Maggie, Michael and Sloan left with promises to call and check in on both of them. A nurse stopped by with a blanket and a pillow for him. He was oblivious to it all. He just watched her chest rise and fall and tried to focus on that.

"Hey Jude, don't make it bad. Take a sad song and make it better. Remember to let her into your heart…then you can start to make it better." The first thing Mackenzie was aware of was Will crooning Beatles' lyrics into her ear.

"Will?" she asked through parched lips.

"I'm here. You scared the shit out of me you know," he told her, brushing her hair away from her face.

"What happened? I feel like crap," she whispered.

"You had a few problems during surgery. You lost quite a bit of blood and your oxygen levels dipped for a while. You're going to be here a little longer than we expected, but you're going to be fine Mac."

"You look like hell Will? Have you been home at all?" she asked, reaching up to rub her hand along the stubble on his jaw.

"No, I don't want to go home. You're not there," he replied, settling back into the chair next to her bed but never letting go of her hand.

"Will, please. You'll be a wreck by the time I leave if you don't go home and get some sleep. I'm fine. Go home for a while," she pleaded.

He just rubbed his fingers over her hand and refused to move.

"So, are you trying to give him a heart attack or something? You do realize you're married to the man now, right? You don't have to kill him to have access to his bank accounts Kenz," Sloan announced as she walked into the hospital room.

Her attempt at levity went over about as well as a lead balloon.

"Drink this, you look like shit," Sloan said, handing Will a large coffee from the deli down the street.

"Thank you," he mumbled, never taking his eyes from Mackenzie.

"Here, I asked the nurse and you can have this." Sloan handed Mackenzie an orange juice.

"Bless you. My mouth tastes like a cesspool right now," Mackenzie whined.

"Charlie said he cleared a couple of more days off for you, but he really needs you back by Monday."

Will just mumbled something that sounded vaguely like "hell if I will be," and turned away from Sloan.

By the time Mackenzie was ready to leave the hospital, Sloan wasn't sure who looked worse…Will or his wife. As he helped her settled into bed, Mackenzie motioned her father over to her side.

"Get him out of here before he goes completely mad or I kill him. He's starting to scare me Dad," Mackenzie mumbled into her father's ear.

Michael had to practically forcibly drag the man from the apartment and was only able to get him to leave under the ruse that Mackenzie had made a special meal request. As they stalked the aisles of Dean and Deluca, Michael tried to get the man to open up. They had always been close, but Will had been closed off to everyone but Mackenzie since the surgery.

"She's going to be fine William. You have to start letting your guard down a little. You can't stand watch over her for the rest of your life," he told his son-in-law.

"Hmm," Will nodded, non-committal.

"Are you even going to listen to anything I say or just stare at your watch and count down the moments until you're back at her side?" Michael asked, almost rhetorically.

"I waited a hell of a long time to be married to the only woman I ever loved. And I almost lost her two weeks after our wedding. Would everyone get the fuck off my back about being a little anxious to be away from her right now?" Will shouted, oblivious to the on-lookers gawking at them. He stalked away from Michael, filling the shopping cart quickly, and rushing to the check out.

"Don't do that to me again Mackenzie," he huffed as he stomped into their bedroom a short time later.

"What?" she asked from the bed. Meggie took one look at the two of them and quietly excused herself from the room.

"Don't send me away on a fool's errand and don't try to manage me!" he yelled, ripping off his sweater and looking for a t-shirt. His fear overruled his anger though, and he quickly climbed into the bed with her. He carefully moved closer to her side and laid his head on her shoulder. She ran her fingers through his hair.

"Ok, I'm sorry. It was too soon and you weren't ready yet. But Will, you're going to have to go to work in a couple of days and even if you spend most of the day here and just go in to tape, you will still need to be away from me for a few hours. You're having trouble with running to the grocery store at this point. Do you think you need to talk to someone? Habib maybe?" she asked with concern.

"No, I don't need to talk to Habib! What the hell is so wrong with being a little rattled by the fact that my wife almost died on the operating table?" he asked, twisting her wedding ring around her finger.

"I didn't almost die Will. I lost some blood…my oxygen level was a little low for a while. The doctors had everything under control. You're blowing this all out of proportion!"

"I am not Mac! You didn't see the look on the nurse's face when she came running out of that OR asking me questions about your medical history. You didn't see how awful you looked when you came out of that surgery. Jesus! What the hell is wrong with you people?" he yelled.

"What the hell is wrong with who Will?"

"All of you! Your father, Meggie, Sloan…you! Why aren't all of you as rattled by this as I am?" he shouted.

"Because you don't let many people in Will. And when you do, you love them with all your might, and I adore you for it. But you have to stop this Billy. We're not going to enjoy the rest of our lives if you're going to obsess over every possible thing that could go wrong."

She kissed him on the temple and wound their hands tightly together.

"I'm not going anywhere Billy, not for a long time. Now stop ruminating and obsessing and just take a fucking nap with me, would you?" she pleaded, giving him a sly smile.

"That I can do," he whispered. He couldn't pull her to him and wrap himself around her just yet, too many bandages and stitches still, but he clung to her arm and rested his head near hers and prayed that the image of her so still and lifeless in that hospital bed would vanish from his mind soon.

He didn't know how the rest of their lives would proceed if he couldn't bear to let her out of his sight.

THE END…for now.