Colby, did you get that forensic report yet?" Don barked out. His eyes were cold.

"No, Don. Uh, I haven't heard from the coroner's office."

"Well, get on the phone and tell them to stop fooling around. I want that report now," Don snapped at Colby. "I am going to see Charlie at CalSci and see if his equation has turned up anything."

Don stalked out of the office.

Colby, puzzled, asked Megan, "What was that all about?"

Shaking her head, Megan replied, "Not sure, but I have an idea."

Colby shrugged and went back to his desk to call the coroner.
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- ----------------------------------
Don walked into Charlie's office and found Larry staring at the blackboard.

"Hey, Larry. Have you seen my brother?"

Larry turned slowly to look at Don, his hands tapping his chin. "Ah, Don. He said he would be right back. He went to check his mailbox."

Suppressing a sigh, Don said, "Okay. How are you two progressing on the equation?"

Larry mused, "What one may call progression, others may call a stumbling block."

Don's eyebrows knitted together. "What?"

"What Larry means to say is that they found a corrupt set in the data and they are reworking the numbers."

Both men looked up to see Amita standing at the door. "Hi Don, Larry. Charlie's not here?" she said with a small smile.

Larry answered, "No, he said he would be right back."

She tilted her head and bit her lip. "Okay, well, tell him I stopped by and I'll talk to him later." She waved goodbye and left the office.

Don said to no one in particular, "I see that dance hasn't gone anywhere."

Larry nodded. "I don't think either of them knows who should lead or if they are dancing the foxtrot or salsa."

Don shook his head at his brother's love life, or lack thereof. At least Charlie seemed to still have a chance with Amita, since she had stayed in California and at CalSci.

"Your brother mentioned that your own dance with the baker has hit a sour note," Larry stated, looking kindly at Don.

Don, annoyed, muttered, "Great, my brother's talking about my love life."

Larry shook his head. "No, no, it wasn't so much talking as I mentioned that I enjoyed the cookies he picked up from the bakery and he said that you two were no longer together."

Don, unable to keep a trace of anger out of his voice, replied, "Yeah, well, things don't always go as planned."

"Don, if I may offer a piece of advice." He tapped his jaw again. "They say a good baker knows when to let the dough rise and when it needs to be worked on. You just have decide on which one you need to do."

Don blinked twice before responding to Larry's comment, saying, "Yeah, uh, thanks, Larry. Can you just tell Charlie I stopped by?"

"With pleasure," Larry replied as his eyes went back to looking at the blackboard.

Later on that evening, Don was staring at the empty contents in the fridge and noticed that all that was in there was the food that Elisabeth had kept there, a bag of shriveled up apples, one of her organic yogurts and the last bottle of his favorite beer. He grabbed the beer out of the fridge and decided to order takeout when his cell phone rang. He growled, "Eppes." On the other end he heard a voice struggling to talk.
"Fed. Please..."

"Elisabeth?"

"It's..."

"What's wrong? Can you hear me? Elisabeth?"

She managed to say one last thing, "... Help," before the line went dead. Dropping the takeout menu, Don grabbed his keys, badge and gun and ran out to his car. He drove as fast as he could over to her place.

He ran to the door and saw the door wide open. One of the neighbors opened their door and looked curiously about. Don saw the woman and ordered her, "Call the police, go back inside and lock the door." She nodded at him as he flashed his badge. He took out his gun and silently walked into the apartment. He checked the kitchen first; it was empty. He slowly walked into the living room of the apartment in the room. Don was met with the sight of two men on the floor. A few feet away he saw Elisabeth lying on the floor, unconscious and bleeding, with a cell phone clutched in her hand.

"Elisabeth?" He immediately went to her side, checking her pulse when he heard a voice mumble, "Is that you, Eppes?"
Don turned his head towards the voice and saw the man he knew to be Mario from Elisabeth's old team badly beaten and lying on the floor.

"Mario, what happened here?"

Before he could answer, Don heard someone yell, "Police."

He put his hands in the air and said, "In here. I'm Special Agent Don Eppes."

After the police cleared him, they began to ask what had happened. Don told them what little he knew and that Elisabeth was a friend of his and had called him before passing out. He handed one of the officers his card and told them if they needed anything else to call him but he wanted to check on his friend. He watched the medics come in and begin to assess the wounded. He walked slowly over to the one that was checking Elisabeth when the medics recognized Don and said, "Agent Eppes?"

"Yeah, hi, Carson." Don nodded in his direction while he watched them load her on the gurney. "Mind if I ride along?"

"You know the vic?" Carson replied.

"Yeah, you could say that," he replied, feeling numb.

The medic, not missing the look on Don's face, said, "Yeah, she's stable so you can ride with us."

Don climbed into the ambulance, sitting in silence while Carson kept an eye on his charge. At the hospital Don watched them take
Elisabeth away into an exam room. Not even a minute later the stretcher with Mario was wheeled in. He flashed his badge at the physician and told him that he would like to speak with Mario when they were done attending to his wounds.

He waited in the waiting room. His mind kept whirling with thoughts. What the hell happened? Why was Mario at her apartment? Who the hell were those two other guys?

A nurse in green scrubs came in and said, "Excuse me, Agent Eppes?"

Don turned. "Yes."

"You can speak to Mr. Thompson now."

"Thompson?"

"Yes, Matthew Thompson. He said that you call him Mario."

"Oh yes, thanks. Excuse me, nurse, any word on Elisabeth Grier?"

"No sir, they are still examining her. I'll have someone keep you posted."

He nodded and went over to talk to Matthew Thompson.

Don walked into the room where the man he knew to be called Mario was. His shirt was off and he had a bandage over his right shoulder. He had a large bruise forming on his left temple and a laceration on his head to match.

"Eppes," Mario said. "Been a while."

"You could say that."

The two stared at each other in stony silence till Mario spoke first. "I guess you want to know what happened, huh?"

Don nodded.

Mario fiddled with a bandage on his hand. "Any word on Elle?"

"I don't know her status. The nurse said she'd let me know."

Mario muttered to himself, "That woman has saved my life again. Now I really owe her." He nodded and sighed back into the pillow. "Sorry about her breaking up with you. Told her it was damn foolish."

Don said nothing, not dropping his stone mask once. "She called me for help; when I got there the two of you were laying in your blood with two other men."

"Both of them dead?" he said as he licked his lips.

"Yeah."

"Good." His eyes flickered in anger.

Annoyed for Mario to get on with the story, he said, "Who the hell were they?"

"One of them was the Director and the other was a goon." He saw the puzzled look on Don's face. "I guess I should start from the beginning. The man called the Director was our old boss." Seeing the surprised look on Don's face he continued, "I guess she didn't tell you." He shook his head. "So smart but yet so foolish. I quit working for them about two weeks ago and Elle was letting me crash till I could save up some cash for a place of my own. The Director I guess decided he didn't like me and Elle quitting and came over to show us the 'error of our ways,' if you get what I mean. Can you hand me that cup? I think I need some water."

Don quickly handed it to Mario, waiting while he took a long sip of water. He cleared his throat and began talking again. "Anyway, Elle was out jogging when the Director and that other guy showed up and started working me over. I guess I blacked out under their tender care for a bit, but when I came to I saw Elle going toe to toe with the Director." He said almost wistfully, "God, I love watching that woman work."

The nurse came in before Don could ask Mario any further questions. "Excuse me, Agent Eppes, but I have some information on Ms. Grier."
Don exchanged apprehensive looks with Mario before turning his attention to the nurse.

"She suffered a bruised lung, two cracked ribs, and some broken fingers."

Don walked over to the nurse. "Can I see her?"

The nurse, not missing the undertones of concern that Don had for the woman, said, "She's being moved to a room. The doctor prescribed a sedative to keep her comfortable. She's not awake at this time." Seeing the concern on Don's face, she added, "You can sit with her in the exam room till we move her upstairs."

Don got up to follow the nurse out when Mario said, "Do you know why she broke up with you?"

Don stopped and just stared at the injured man.

"No? I didn't think so. She broke up with you 'cause she was afraid."

Don looked skeptically at him. "Afraid? Afraid of what?"

"Yeah, afraid of so many things. Afraid of her feelings for you, afraid of where that was leading her." Mario looked Don straight in the eyes. "Eppes, she also was afraid of hurting you."

"Hurting me?" Shaking his head, he tried to digest what Mario had said.

"You're a lucky man, Eppes, 'cause I know for a fact that she's in love with you. She would never admit it, but it's true. You're just what she needs and I hope you can swallow your pride and try to work things out with her."

Tersely he answered, "Yeah, well, I think we are way past getting back together."

Mario snorted, "Yeah, don't be too sure." Not able to hold Don's look any longer, he said finally, "If I had any chance with her I wouldn't have told you that stuff, but I don't. If she would let me love her I would, but she loves you, Eppes, and I'm damn jealous."

Don walked out of the room, glancing one more time at a broken, pained man.

He walked into the exam room and saw that she was indeed asleep. She had a tube in her nose and an IV hooked up into her left arm.
Her left hand was bandaged and she had a bandage on her head. He touched the side of her face and leaned over to kiss her forehead.

He pulled out the chair next to the bed and laid his hand gently on top of hers.

An hour or so had passed when the doctor came in to check on his patient.

Don had fallen asleep in the chair. His eyes opened immediately when the doctor came in.

The doctor looked down at her chart and turned towards him. "I'm Doctor Morris. Are you family?"

He rubbed the remnants of sleep off his face and replied, "No, she doesn't have any."

Dr. Morris glanced at the gun and badge that Don wore and asked, "You the agent in charge of this case?"

"Um, yeah, sure."

The doctor glanced back at Don again but decided to go on speaking. "We'll be moving her to a room shortly."
Don looked at Elisabeth as he asked the doctor, "Is she going to be alright?"

"We are admitting her for observation for her lung for a day or so. We want to make sure that lung doesn't give her any problems, but I don't anticipate that it will. Is there anyone who can stay with her when she's released? She's going to be in a lot of pain for awhile and she is going to need help with mobility."

"Um, yeah. I'm a friend of hers. She'll probably stay with me."

The doctor nodded. "Okay, well you need to go home and get some rest. You'll be no good to her if you aren't well yourself. Can you stop by the nurses station to help them with her personal information before you leave?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll do that." After speaking to Admissions he started to go out to the parking lot and realized that he didn't have his car here. Swearing to himself, he took out his cell phone.

"Hi, Dad. Sorry to call you at this late hour, but can you give me a ride from the hospital? Dad, calm down. I'm fine and no one on the team is hurt either. My car? I left it at Elisabeth's. No, we did not patch things up. Who's hurt? That's a long story, but it's Elisabeth. Dad, I really don't want to discuss it over the phone. Can you just come and get me? Okay, well, they are going to admit her, so I will be up in her room. It's 526. I'll see you when you get here. Okay, see you in twenty."

Alan found his son sitting beside a very banged up looking Elisabeth. With concern in his voice, he said, "Donnie?"

His voice was weary when he spoke. "Hey, Dad. Thanks for coming to get me."

"Sure, anytime. Is she going to be alright?"

"Yeah."

Alan touched Don's shoulder. "You wanna talk about it?"

"No, not really. I'm just..."

"I know, Don. She's in good hands here. I'm sure once she's better, you two can work things out."

"I don't know, Dad."

"You wouldn't be looking at her like that if you didn't want to at least try. Come on, I'll take you back to the house. We can go get your car in the morning after breakfast." He placed a hand on Don's shoulder and led him down to the elevators.

Chapter 16

Elisabeth opened her eyes and tried to move. She hissed in pain. "What the...?" She tried to think where she was. "Oh, yeah. Hospital."

"Ah, Sleeping Beauty's awake?"

Elisabeth looked over towards the voice that had spoken. It was Mario. He was sitting in a wheelchair next to her bed. She grimaced in pain. "Great, the first thing I have to wake up to is your ugly mug."

He snorted. "Argh, don't me laugh, woman. Injured man here."

"Hmm? It looks like you're better off than I am."

"Yeah, about that. Thanks."

She nodded. "Anytime." She hissed again in pain. "On second thought, never again. You're on your own."

"I'll remember that. So, I see that your boyfriend sent you flowers."

She followed his finger where he pointed. There was a vase with purple irises and daisies on a table with one red rose in the center. "He's not my boyfriend."

Sighing in annoyance, Mario replied, "Don't be a fool, woman. You love him as much as he loves you."

"Mario," she warned.

"Naw, not this time, Elle. I'm not going to stay silent. Don't screw this up. That Fed loves you and you love him. You have a chance at a future with someone and you go and throw it all away. Well, I ain't having it. When he shows up here, which we both know he will, you better beg for him to take you back. Hell, I'll beg him for you." He wheeled his way out of the room, mumbling, "Fool woman."

She rubbed her temples and sighed back into the pillows. She looked at the flowers that he had sent.

"You want to read the card, honey?"

Elisabeth looked up and saw that a nurse had come in.

She cleared her throat. "Yeah. Yeah, I would."

The nurse smiled at Elisabeth as she chattered on, "Well, those are some pretty flowers, if I say so." She handed the card to Elisabeth. "I'm your nurse for the day. My name is Jo. I'm gonna take your vitals and then help you to freshen up."

Elisabeth nodded as she read the card. It read simply:


My thoughts are never far from you.

The Fed.

P.S. where's my cupcake?

She felt tears forming in her eyes and tried hard to blink them back.

Handing her a tissue, the nurse kindly said, "Okay, let's get you to the bathroom. Your friend brought some things from your place--a change of pajamas and toiletries."

"What? I'm sorry, what friend?"

"The FBI agent, the one who brought you the flowers. He sat here for a couple of hours earlier this morning while you were sleeping."

Surprised, she said, "He did?"

"He sure did." The nurse nodded at Elisabeth. "The agent your boyfriend?"

"Uh, after the way I treated him, probably not."

"Well, the way he sat and watched you, I have a feeling that he thinks otherwise." Jo started prepping to help Elisabeth out of the bed. "I think you just gotta give it a chance. Okay, you ready to walk to the bathroom?"

Elisabeth stood up with Jo's help and groaned in pain. "After I get you back in bed, I'll get you more pain medicine." Once in the bathroom, the nurse said, "Okay, I'm going to help you wash off."

"Jo, please. Please let me try myself. I promise I will call out if I need you. Please?"

She nodded. "Okay, you can sit there on that ledge in the shower. I'll change the dressing on your hand and chest when you come out. I'm going to leave the door open a crack, but you go and give a yell if you need me." Jo helped her out of the hospital gown and maneuvered the IV pole out of the way so Elisabeth could take a quick shower.

Elisabeth stepped gently into the shower but grunted in pain. She sat on the ledge and allowed the warm shower water to pulse over her for a moment. She took out the soap from the toiletry bag and washed up quickly since the pain was becoming intense. She washed gently over her abdomen and chest, her hands gentle on the dark bruises. She squeezed a small amount of shampoo out and washed her hair. She rinsed off. The shower must have taken her only about five minutes, but to her body it felt like an eternity.

She turned off the water and knew she would not be able to make it any further without help. "Jo? I think I need help now."

The nurse smiled. "Okay, here, let me help you dry off."

Jo helped her put on a nightgown out of the overnight bag Don had brought for her. She helped her back into her bed and helped combed out her wet hair. "Would you like me to braid you hair so it won't bother you?"

"Yes, I'd like that."

Jo finished tying back Elisabeth's hair and pulled up the blankets. "Pretty as a picture."

Elisabeth rolled her eyes. "Yeah, real pretty."

The doctor stepped in to check on her while the nurse was re-wrapping the bandages on Elle's fingers. He also updated her on her condition. He added he would be back later to check on her, before leaving with a reassuring smile.

Jo came back into the room with a water pitcher and a cup. "You slept through lunch, but dinner will be passed around soon. I'll be back with a snack and some juice if you'd like."

"Yes, please."

There was a knock at the door and Don said, "Can I come in?"

Unable to look Don in the eye, she said, "Yeah, sure."

Jo gave Elisabeth a reassuring smile. "I'll be back in a bit." She patted her patient on the hand and stepped out of the room.

Don gave Elisabeth a tentative smile. "Hey."

"Hey yourself."

He stepped further into the room. "How you feeling?"

"Like a Mack truck hit me and then backed over me five or six times."

"Still cracking jokes, I see." His lips twitched at her comment.

"Yeah, well, you know me."

Don wondered to himself, "Do I?"

Feeling the unspoken thought, she looked away for a second before saying, "Um, thank you for the flowers. I love them, they're beautiful."

"You're welcome. I'm glad you like them."

"Of course I do. You remembered what my favorites are. That is really sweet."

He shrugged. "Yeah, I'm not a totally inept boyfriend."

She picked at her blanket . "You sure you still want call yourself that?"

He sat on the edge of her bed and said, "If you want me to." He took her hand and brought it to his lips.

"Thanks again for coming when I called."

"Changing the subject, I see?"

"Yup. Yup, that's clearly my plan."

He let out a little snort. "Have you talked to the doctor yet?"

"Yeah, he said I should be let out in a day or so."

"Yeah, he mentioned that to me. He also said that you would maybe need to stay with a friend for a few days since you would be in a lot of pain and need some help getting around. I told him that you would probably stay with me."

"You did?" She looked at him.

"Yeah, I did. I mean, only if you want to."

There was a long pause before she answered, "Yeah, I'd like that. I mean, if you're okay with it."

"I am."

They sat in silence for awhile, barely meeting each other's eyes, till finally Don spoke. "Maybe when you are feeling up to things, we can talk about us. No pressure or anything, just talking."

Elisabeth said quietly, "I am so sorry. Can you forgive me?"

Wiping the tears that had spilled down her face, he whispered in her ear, "How could I not?"

"Don, I want to tell you something. I... uh..." She stopped talking, her voice caught in her throat.

Don understood what she was struggling to tell him. He put his finger to her lips. "I know. Me too, ghost. Me too."