a/n: Ah, how happy am I? 12 reviews, you guys rock! Some of you liked the new chapter, but didn't like the new Mitchie. I didn't mean to imply that Mitchie became a prostitute, because she is NOT. Haha. Enjoy!

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: THERAPY

"Want something to drink?" Shane stood awkwardly by the fridge, while Mitchie sat uncomfortably on the counter.

"Um…no, thanks."

Shane pulled out one of the more elevated chairs so he could be face to face with Mitchie. "We have to talk at some point, so we might as well do it now."

Mitchie pursed her lips. She was embarrassed by her outburst, and had suddenly become embarrassed by her choice of clothing as she felt Shane's eyes keep straying away from her face and focusing on other places.

"Sure. You go first."

Shane closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them and took Mitchie's hand, caressing it softly. "I never meant to hurt you. Don't ever think that I don't love you, because I do, with all my heart. And my heart is telling me that we are made for each other, Mitchie. All I've thought about all this time is how empty I am without you. You are my other half, you complete me. We truly have something special. Can't you feel it?"

Mitchie's eyes hazed over with fresh tears. She could hear the honesty in his voice, see the care in his eyes. There was no more time she needed, she couldn't last any longer being someone she wasn't. She was ready. Ready to earn his trust back, ready to be happy again, and most importantly, she was ready to wear his ring again.

"I do feel it. It feels like I'm a part of you. I can sense your feelings sometimes. But it scares me, how close we are…I mean, look at how I changed after we separated. I became this horrible, conceited…who-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence."

"Person. And when I'm near you, you make me so open, so unsure about everything, except the fact that this feels so right. Is that crazy? Am I crazy?"

"No, you're not, baby. Because I feel the same way."

And he kissed her.

It was sudden, rough, yet it washed both of their doubts right down the drain.

As he pulled away, he rested his forehead on hers, breathing heavily. "I'm not afraid to fall if you're the one who catches me."

A fresh tear rolled down Mitchie's cheek as she smiled widely. "I've got ya."

The rain pattered down lightly on the roof the next morning as Mitchie lay in Shane's arms. She kissed Shane's cheek lightly as she quietly got up and headed toward the baby room.

After turning the light on, she carefully traced the "MT + SG". She went to touch the initials of the deceased children's names, but in place of what she had painted, she found a question mark.

Her heart lightened as she realized the hidden meaning. She grinned and sat down in the rocking chair, closing her eyes, unaware of the danger less than ten feet away from her.

Shane opened his eyes and stretched, reaching for Mitchie, but instead of hitting what should have been her waist, he hit the bare space next to him. "Mitchie?" He sat up, relief flooding over him as he saw the light coming from the baby room. Chuckling, he pulled his sweatpants over his boxers and trudged tiredly towards the bright room.

Mitchie tensed as she heard an unnatural crunch of leaves outside the window, but she ignored it, telling herself it was probably just a squirrel or deer.

She pulled the blanket tighter over her body and yawned. There was nothing to be afraid, she was with Shane now.

She was safe.

Shane's smile quickly diverted to a frown as panic hit his chest hard.

Don was outside the window, aiming a gun right at the love of Shane's life.

"Mitchie!"

Mitchie quickly awakened to see Shane lunging towards her, she gasped, clearly confused of what was happening until she heard the sickening sound of a gunshot.

Shane fell to the floor, clutching his shoulder, and Mitchie looked at the window to find Don wink at her and then run away.

Her breath was heavy and she stared at the window for several seconds before realizing that Shane had been hurt. She screamed for help and knelt down next to him, turning the broad body over.

"Shane…Shane, baby, are you okay? Can you hear me?"

Shane gave her a weak smile. "I love you, you know that, right?"

"Of course I do, baby!"

"Good." He let out a short laugh and his eye lids closed.

"Shane!"

Mitchie let out a sob and pulled his body close, not even noticing the people and paramedics crowding around her.

Caitlyn and Nate paced around the noisy waiting area of the hospital, glancing at a very silent Mitchie every once in a while.

Shane had gone into surgery an hour after he had been taken into the ER. The doctors hadn't told Mitchie anything except that he had gone into shock.

Don had apparently been caught by the apartment's security team and was placed in the city jail until Shane and Mitchie were ready to file charges.

Mitchie sat cross-legged in one of the hard chairs, twiddling her fingers nervously. Her heart was still pounding and the sound of the gunshot was still ringing in her ears.

The sight of Shane falling to the floor, clutching his shoulder, kept replaying over and over in her mind.

She was terrified. Terrified for Shane, terrified for herself, terrified for Caitlyn and Nate, terrified for the people who now lived in fear in the apartment complex.

"Shane Gray?"

Mitchie looked up at an aging doctor, who was looking expectantly at her. She slowly stood and walked over to him.

"Is he okay?"

He smiled sadly at her timid voice, sympathizing her because of all she'd been through.

"He should be alright. He still is in shock, we aren't sure if he will enter a coma just yet. If he wakes up, that will answer our questions. When he wakes up, the only thing we should be afraid of is an embolism. Until then, he seems fine."

Mitchie nodded slowly, barely registering a word he said. "Can I go sit with him?"

"Of course."

The doctor waited until she was out of earshot before turning to Caitlyn and Nate.

Nate studied the older man's face and his heart felt heavy. "There's more, isn't there?"

Caitlyn gripped her husband's hand tighter and took a deep breath. "Please tell us."

The doctor sighed and removed his glasses. "I'm terribly sorry. We removed the bullet successfully, but it was so deep, it left some damage we could not repair. I'm afraid Shane is going to lose function in his right arm."

Mitchie cried quietly as she brushed the hair out of Shane's face.

She took hold of his hand and said gently,

"I'm not leaving you, baby. I'm right here."

a/n: This is probably the hardest chapter I have hard to write yet. So intense…wow. Please review and let me know what you think. Xoxo