Disclaimer: I do not own Midsomer Murders! I only own the characters I made up!

"Uncle?" I murmured.

He continued to stare at me, though a slight, and I mean very slight smile tugged at the corners of his lips. His warm brown eyes were filled with agony, tearing my already beaten, bruised, and torn heart the rest of the way until it felt as though it was in two pieces in my chest. But, my presence also seemed to bring a slight sparkle of happiness to those eyes as well.

I walked slowly to his bedside and sat on the edge of the mattress. "How long have you been awake?"

He furrowed his brows for a few moments. "I think an hour."

I shakily took his hand in mine as I placed a light kiss where the stitches used to be in his cheek. "I've missed you." I whispered.

His brows remained furrowed. "How long have I been asleep?"

I gave his hand a slight squeeze. "A month, Uncle."

He stared at me for a few moments, studying the sadness and happiness in my eyes. "A month? An entire month?!" he asked softly, though the softness didn't hide his shock. "Where have you been staying?"

I smiled gently at him, and stroked his knuckles with my thumb. "The Williamsons have been sheltering me. They've been doing quite well keeping me out of trouble." I chuckled.

He actually smiled that time, and gave my hand a gentle squeeze. "Have you been trying to get into trouble?"

I only squeezed his hand back, trying not to cry, even though a few tears had already made their way down my cheeks. "I've been very worried about you. My mind isn't what it used to be...and considering what happened before they put you in the hospital..."

Ben nodded, and reached up to wipe my tears away gently. "Now, now." he smiled. "None of that. I'm alright."

A small smile graced my lips as I wrapped my arms gently around his neck. I wasn't being very animated, or hugging him to me. Nope. I was too afraid of hurting him. That's why it caught me off guard completely when it was Ben that hugged me against him. Of course, I was at his right side, not his left where his bullet wound was.

"What have you been up to?" he asked as he held me gently against him.

I sighed. What could I tell him? "Nothing. I've been moping around, mostly."

"Oh, Blake." he sighed. "Don't do that."

I eased myself away from him, and lightly traced the line on his cheek that had been left over from his stitches. "Well, it's true. You've been asleep for an entire month. An entire month without waking! You're purple and blue all over, several of your bones have been broken, they had to put stitches in to keep your cheek together, and," I leaned a bit closer to face, and dropped my voice a few notches quieter. "They had to keep you on oxygen for several weeks because they were afraid you wouldn't be able to get enough on your own."

I could feel my body trembling, and I'd given up on all hope of keeping my tears back, for they were running down my cheeks like two separate waterfalls. Ben could only squeeze my hand and look on sympathetically. I probably wasn't helping the poor man's condition, either. I took a deep breath and kept quiet for a few moments before speaking again.

"This is my fault." I whispered. "If I had only told you that night that I'd had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, that I felt we needed to go back inside the building, you would be out solving cases with Mr. Barnaby right now."

I didn't even bother to look Ben in the face. His eyes would most likely be filled with pain at his wounds, and anger at me. He didn't speak, and neither did I. I was panting from my silent crying, trying to regain my breath. I had nothing to say after pointing out the things I did to him.

I released his hand slowly and stood. "I'll leave you alone." Was all I said.

I was surprised when I felt his hand, ever so weak and gentle on mine. "Don't." he told me quietly.

I could hear the pain in his voice. He was in pain. He was in bad pain. He was in pain because of me.

"Why?" I asked without turning around. "I did this to you."

He lightly tugged, and I really do mean lightly on my hand, and beckoned me wordlessly to sit back down on the mattress. I did as I was told, wondering why on earth he wanted to speak to me.

"Look at me." he said softly.

Just like always, I did as he told me to do, and I was surprised to find no anger in his eyes. Those soft brown eyes...eyes that I could read like a book, were leaving me clueless. There was pain, yes. But, there were other emotions that I'd never seen before. For once, I didn't know what those eyes were telling me, and it scared me. I'd always been able to read eyes.

"It's not your fault." he said softly. "You didn't know what was going to happen." he paused for a moment to stroke my cheek. "You didn't bang me up, and you aren't the one that pulled the trigger." A slight smile tugged at the corners of his lips. Slightly. "It's not your fault."

"But...I had a bad feeling! I wanted to go b-"

"Stop." he said gently, though there was too much seriousness in his eyes. "It's not your fault. It's okay."

I sat and studied my uncle for a few moments, not daring to make a move. He looked completely serious, pained, and very, very tired. His eyes showed that his words were sincere, but I couldn't help but continue to feel guilty about what had happened.

"So," he said, moving on to a different subject. "I noticed that you came in with Jerry."

Jerry? Jerry! I'd forgotten all about him! I turned my gaze quickly to where he had been, only to find him...gone. Where had he gone?

"He left the room almost immediately after you found that I was awake." Ben said, answering part of my question. "Maybe he wanted to give us a moment alone."

I nodded, smiling lightly. Jerry would do that. "We're dating, now. He asked me out about half a month ago." I couldn't help the small amount of pride that had worked its way in my voice. It was slight, though, and even sounded a bit weak.

Ben nodded, a knowing smile on his face. "I see. He'd better be treating you like a lady."

I chuckled. It wasn't the sentence that had caused me to, but the tone of his voice. He'd sounded exactly like a protective father that was willing to make a fuss over some boy that was dating his daughter. "He's every bit the gentleman, I promise."

"You've been staying in his home." he pressed.

"Uncle!" I laughed, very lightly swatting a section of his arm that wasn't bruised and or bandaged. "Mike and Cora are very watchful. We haven't done anything they wouldn't approve of."

Well...almost. I doubt Mr. and Mrs. Williamson would have approved of us sitting at the very back of the movie theatre, making-out like two very love-sick people, and I doubt they would have approved of us laying in his bed together while we read to each other from our favorite books. So, almost.

I offered him my most sincere smile, the most sincere I'd smile in what felt like years, hoping to appear convincing. Ben smiled back as well, but winced shortly after, the simple movement having caused him pain due to the wounds in his cheeks.

"Did they ever catch those men?" he whispered. He shifted so that he was slouching back against the headboard, and closed his eyes.

I swallowed worriedly at his actions, and squeezed his hand. "They caught two of them...but the one that shot you is still at large. He's shot two other officers since then. They have a lead as to where he's going, and they're trying to get special forces involved."

Ben didn't respond. Ben just laid there slumped against the headboard, his eyes still closed, his breathing soft and even. His hand loosened slightly in my own, and my worry inflated. I squeezed his hand once more, and reached up to stroke his hair with my other hand. A faint mew passed his lips before he gave my hand a weak squeeze.

"Do I need to fetch a nurse?" I asked in hopes that he could still hear me.

"No." he replied, his voice still a whisper. "She left ten minutes before you arrived. They can't do anything else for me."

I'd never felt so hopeless. Here was my uncle, wounded and in pain in a hospital full of medicine, and there was nothing I could do for him. I allowed my fingers to trail from his hair to his scarred cheek as I leaned slightly closer to him. "How do you feel?"

He dragged in a long breath. "Weak...tired."

I didn't say anything to his response. Instead, I help him ease himself down on the mattress so he was in a complete lying position. A few moments later, I knew he was asleep again. "Sweet dreams, Uncle." I whispered against his forehead. "Because Lord knows I haven't been having any."

Having said that I kissed the still bruised skin of his forehead and left the room.

Jerry had to drive on the way back, knowing my emotions wouldn't allow me to focus fully on the road. As soon as we pulled up in the driveway, I was out of the car, and in one of the lawn chairs on the back porch of the Williamson's home, where I remained for several hours. I'd been deep in thought the entire time, not observant to what had been going on around me. I'd been so consumed by my thoughts that I hadn't heard anyone coming in and out of the back doors to check on me every now and then. I hadn't heard the laughter of little Daniel as he played with his father in the living room, and I hadn't heard Jerry and April carrying on a sibling argument in the upper part of the house.

As a matter of fact, I hadn't heard Mike and Cora come out on the porch and take a seat on either side of me in separate lawn chairs. Nope. Didn't even realize they were there until Cora tapped me on the shoulder. I jumped from the surprise of feeling another human being touch me. As I'd sat there all of those hours, I'd slowly slipped back into the past, remembered the abuse I'd received before Ben had come in and taken me away from it all. So, when Cora touched me on the shoulder, I was still in the past, and was ready to run. I'd jumped half-way out of my chair before Mike reached up with his strong hands and grabbed me firmly by the upper arms, pulling me back down in my seat.

"Relax!" he said at my startled actions. "It's just us. It's okay." he soothed.

It took my foggy eyes a moment to clear and realize it was Mike sitting to my left, and Cora sitting to my right, not my father or his seemingly always drunken friends. "Sorry." I whispered. "I...was in the past. I thought you were someone else."

I could tell from the corner of my eyes both of them had nodded. "How is he?" Cora asked.

I smiled slightly, not even sure if it could be called a smile because it had been so small, but answered anyway, keeping my eyes forward. "He was awake when I walked in the room, but...I don't know." I sighed. "He was just so...weak. I got to talk to him for a few minutes, and I'm thankful for that, but..."

I had nothing else to say. I just propped my chin on my fist and closed my eyes.

"Well, that means he's improving." Cora said positively. "How long had he been awake?"

"An hour." I yawned. It had been a long day, after all.

"That's incredible." she told me. "After being in a coma for that long, it's incredible that he had the strength to even speak to you."

I closed my eyes and heaved a heavy sigh. "Do you think he'll pull through?" My voice had only been a whisper. I'd addressed anyone that could hear what I'd said.

"He'll make it, that's for certain." It was Mike that had spoken that time. "I've known him for years. He's a strong man. He'll pull through." he assured.

I did smile that time, enjoying all of the positive information I was receiving. It was comforting. That and Cora had been rubbing my back the entire time. She certainly knew all of the good points; all of the spots I was never able to reach.

"Thank you." I told both of them, my voice yet again a whisper.

"Would you like to come inside?" Mike asked on a more cheerful note. "We have fresh pie just waiting to be eaten."

I chuckled. "No thank you. I'll just sit out here for a few more minutes. I'll come in a few minutes."

They sat there for a few moments, but nodded when I didn't say anything else. I didn't bother to look at them when they got up and went back in the house. I wasn't trying to be rude or anything, but all things considered, I was very tired, and mentally drained. I sat back in my chair and made myself comfortable, and began wondering what tomorrow would bring. My life had become a new adventure when I saw Ben sitting up, staring at me. With that picture in my head, I fell asleep.

FIRST OF ALL! I'm very sorry for taking so long to get this posted. I lost my muse, and interest in the story for a bit. And, school is very stressful right now. I'm hanging on by my fingernails trying to keep my grades up. AND! I'm very sorry if this chapter is completly, horribly, awful. I had the "Dark Knight" playing while I was trying to write, and I get distracted VERY easily! So, sorry if this chapter was just a pile of garbage. Even if it was, please review! I appreciate it, and your reviews motivate me! Thank you!