A/N: Hey there. Glad you made it this far, and I hope you are still enjoying the tale. This next chapter shouldn't have been a hard one to write, but I found I had re-written it three times.

Also, before I go further, there is a question I have to ask... I have a chapter coming up, and it's SUPER long (and lemony) and I was unsure if you would prefer a short chapter, and then a long lemony one, or a super long lemony one, or a lemony chapter that has the break in the middle of the lemon, to be continued on the next chapter. SO... shoot me a PM or in a review how you think you might like it. I MIGHT pay attention to your wishes and desires... or I might not... Ya never know.

Off we go!

I run to the en suite, throwing the door open and I am stopped by the sight of one naked Gideon Cross, and the remains of my bathroom mirror. He's standing there, surrounded by shards of broken glass, his right hand is fisted and bleeding.

"Don't move," I said firmly. He looked up and turned towards me, blood dripping from his closed fist. "DON'T MOVE DAMMIT!" He stops, dropping his shoulders.

"I'm sorry Shana," he says as he sees the glass around him.

"Just... stay there. Do not move, and let me get the glass off the floor, ok?" He nods. "I mean it Gideon, do not move."

"I wont," he assured me. I quickly run down to the kitchen, grabbing the broom and dustpan from the cupboard. I spot the first aid kit on the wall and grabbed it too, and ran back to where Gideon is. Hopefully the man hasn't moved a inch.

Finding he has stayed in position, I released a small breath, nodding for no particular reason.

"Okay, I need you to continue to stay where you are. I will sweep the glass up, but, I want to make sure none has landed on you, okay?" He nodded quietly. I quickly sweep around him, ducking down, watching the floor, looking for any spare glint from any minute glass particle. Within a few minutes I am satisfied I have all the glass from the floor. I approach him now, and see his right hand is still dripping blood. I grab a towel, and gently wrap it in it.

"This is just to keep the blood from dripping. I will go over your hand in a few and bandage you up. I want to make sure there is no glass on or under your feet, okay?" He nods. "If you need to balance, you can put your hand on my shoulder." He nods again and I lower myself to my knees. I gently run my hands down his left thigh, finding a small piece caught in the hair near his knee, and as I continue my inspection, I find three more slivers on the top of his foot, and two underneath.

I follow the same process for his right leg, finding another three pieces, and a rather large chunk that had he moved, would have needed stitches on the ball of his foot. Content that I have found as much as I will be able to, I let him know it's safe to move now.

"I'm really sorry about this," he said, his voice low and rasping. I looked up, taken aback at how... childlike he seemed. Standing there, in his naked glory, his shoulders slumped forward, his hair tussled, and he seemed rather confused at how he could have gotten into this predicament.

"Don't worry about it hon. Honest. It's okay," I said, trying to comfort him. I walked over to the linen closet, and picked out a large white bath towel.

"Raise your hands a bit," I said as I approached him, shaking the towel out. He did as was asked and I wrapped the towel around him, tucking it closed in the front. I caught him blushing when I had finished fixing his towel, and I think that maybe he had forgotten he was naked in front of me. "Now, let's get you sitting down so I can look at your hand." I walk with him back into the bedroom, holding the towel covered hand and watching as he steps, looking for any spare shards I missed, but we make it to the bed without another issue.

He sits down, and I slowly unwrap his hand, and for the first time I see how bad the injury is. "Crap... Boy did you do a good job here," I said as I whistled through my teeth, I re-wrapped his hand with the towel so I could get everything I would need to fix it. I reached for the first aid kit, but as I go through it, I swear under my tongue. I stretched over towards the bedside table, reaching for the phone. I watched Gideon as I waited for the call to go through. He seems confused, but waits quietly for me.

"Taylor." Two rings. Not bad.

"Hey Taylor, did I wake you?"

"Yes Ma'am," He responded, and I smiled. I love it when people are truthful. "What can I do for you?"

"I need a suture kit," I said, and I can tell that he is now fully awake.

"What happened? Do you need-"

"I just need a kit. Apparently mine is gone."

"Yes Ma'am. I can bring you one."

I smiled. "Thanks. We are in the guest room."

"I will be there in three minutes," he replied, and then I heard the click of his phone hanging up.

"Is it that bad," Gideon said, not looking at his hand.

"Well, it's not good." He sighs, shaking his head. "Hey, it's okay, yeah? I'll have you stitched up in no time."

"How do you even know how to do stitches?" He asked bewildered. I look up at him and grinned.

"Is that something new about me you didn't know?" He nodded, and I grinned in return. "Well... Worst case scenario. If, say me and my entourage were suddenly under fire It's pretty much a guarantee that I won't be using a firearm, but those that are protecting me and mine, they could need first aid. Best if I know how to fix them if they are taking a hit for me."

"That... Makes a lot of sense," he says, tilting his head in thought.

"Yeah, you can take it," I said, seeing his mind working.

"Huh?"

"Your Crossfire Training Centers. They do self-defense courses. Offer it with the course. Rather stupid if you know self-defense but don't know how to do first aid. I'll give you my idea... On one condition."

"I don't compromise," he said firmly, and I rolled my eyes at him.

"We aren't compromising. You can have my idea. As long as fifty percent on the proceeds go to a abuse shelter."

He smiled at me and nodded. "That, I can agree to."

"I know," I said winking at him. I see Taylor at the door to the bedroom and I wave him in. I am a bit taken back seeing he was in his three piece suit, knowing I had called while he was asleep. The best of the best. I swear again that Christian has him and I don't. "Thanks Taylor."

"You're welcome. Is there anything I can do?" He looks down into the bloody towel that is currently covering Gideon's hand.

"No, I think I got it."

Taylor nods, leaving us as he heads back to bed. I take a towel, folding it in half and laid it over my thigh. I looked up at Gideon as I took his towel wrapped hand in mine. "Close your eyes," I said.

"No, I am okay," he replied, shaking his head.

"I know you are. Close your eyes."

"Shana..." He grumbled at me.

"Gideon, close your eyes. I know you are a strong virile man. You don't need to score points with me. I just don't want to have to use the smelling salts on you."

"Ha!" He threw his head back with a laugh. "Trust me, you wont need to."

"I know," I replied. "Close. Your. Eyes." He sat there, challenging me, his eyes not leaving mine, nor closing. "Gideon, I swear to God if you don't follow my directions, I'll let Mia think you have a crush on her." His eyes widened at my words and I could see he was weighing whether I would follow through on that or not.

"You wouldn't," he said confidently.

"You willing to risk it," I asked in a low, smooth voice. Another moment passed and he closed his eyes, shrugging in defeat.

I smiled, knowing he couldn't see my smirk, and then I took his covered hand, and slowly unwrapped it. Once it was unwrapped, I laid his hand down on my thigh, settling it carefully on the folded towel, and then covered it with a blue surgical sheet that had a hole cut through it so that I could see what I will be working on, ignoring the rest of the area. "You can open your eyes now, if you want," I said as I fumbled through the kit, taking out the rest of the items I would need.

"How many stitches do you think," Gideon asked, watching me with a sharp eye.

"Well," I said, pulling out the antiseptic wash. "I would like it to be five."

"But...?"

"But it may be closer to eight." I pull out a hypodermic needle and a small vial, and I hear him take a sharp breath in. My eyes immediately flew up to see his face. "Are you okay?"

"What is that," he asks, his eyes pointing at the needle and vial.

"It's okay. It's a local, and it will numb the area I am working on." He shakes his head and me and I roll my eyes at him. "Look, I'm not arguing with you. I will inject you with this, and you will sit there and let me."

"Oh I will, will I?" I see his eyes come alive at my response to him, his jaw clenching and his cheek puffing out as he ground his teeth.

"Yep," I said, popping the P.

"And what makes you think I will?" I narrow my eyes at him, I tilt my head, choosing my answer from the many reasons I could throw at him.

"One, you busted my mirror. Two, I had to clean up your mess. Three, you woke me from my sleep. Four, you are a guest in my house, and it is my obligation to you to keep you safe. By not accepting the anesthetic, you will make my work more difficult to do, and I will have to have Stevenson and Taylor come up here, waking both of them, so they can hold you down while I carve into your hand. Five... Because I said so."

He watches me, carefully, weighing his options. Finally he smiles a small, boyish grin and said, "Okay."

It took me a moment to understand what he said, and then all I could do was shake my head at him. "You are insane," I said, laughing. He grinned at me and watched carefully as I filled the syringe with the Lidocaine. "Okay, ready?" He nods. "All righty then, I am ready to start. Now, if you don't want to see this, just close your eyes, okay?" He nods again, and I insert the needle into a spot near the largest break in the skin. "Don't clench your muscles dear. Relax them." I feel his hand release a tightened grip on my leg. I hadn't been aware that he had gripped my leg until I said that.
"It will take only a minute, and then I will administer some more," I said, and he nodded, his eyes closed. "So, we are going shopping today, what color dress do you think I should look at," I ask, trying to distract him as I insert the needle again.

"It doesn't matter to me, I am sure you will look great in any of them." Smooth talker.

"What's your favorite color," I asked him as the last of the Lidocaine is injected.

"I don't know... White maybe? Or Burgundy?" I smile, seeing the lines in his forehead start to smooth out.

"Knowing Mia, she'll show me something in every color and then want me to try them all on. I hate shopping."

"Really," he asked, his eyes opened at my comment. "How come?"

I shrug as I insert the needle for the first stitch. "It's just... window dressing. I have personal shoppers so they can get me what I need, and I can be "in touch" with what is going on, without having to actually shop. But, I hate thinking that some people see me for the items I am wearing and not the person I am." He nods. I know he understands that too.

"You are lucky," I said as I tied off the second stitch.

"Oh? How so?"

"You're a guy," I said, as if that should explain it.

"And...?"

"And, say a project is coming up, when you meet with people, they know it will get done, or you will pass on it. With me, the first thing they always want to know is if the project is too much for me. Can my company handle it. How will I deal with it. That's why, when I was first starting out, I was taking the harder jobs. The ones most would turn down, because I had to prove I CAN do it."

"What does that have to do with clothing?"

"You would be surprised," I said, tying off the fourth stitch.

He smiled at me. "Enlighten me."

"If I wear a pants suit, I give off the impression of being to hard and uncompromising. If I wear a skirt, sometimes they take it to mean I am to... flighty. Empty-headed. On my shoes, if I wear flats, they think it means I don't have any confidence. If I wear heels, I am over compensating for something." I look up and see on his face that he is considering my words and slowly nods.

"I think I could be accused of some of those thoughts, not about you, but maybe on other women."

"Six," I said, looking up at him.

"Hmmm?"

"Six stitches." He looked down at my handiwork and whistled.

"Damn. That's... impressive." I smiled at him. "I... didn't feel it."

"I know. Because I'm good," I said, grinning and cocking my head to the right.

"You were a Doctor in a previous life, right?" I laughed at him and he smiles.

"I'm going to put a light wrap over it, just for the next day, in case any seepage occurs, okay?" He nods and as I clean up the triage refuse, I see him walk over to his dresser, his eyes not leaving his hand. So enthralled with my work, he hasn't noticed he is once again sans clothing. Damn that man has a fine ass, I thought to myself. I smile as he finds a pair of boxers and a tee shirt, being careful with his hand as he puts both on.

"So..." I raise a eyebrow at him and wait for the rest of his sentence. He looks up at me and grins. "So, you never went to medical school?"

"No," I laugh and shake my head at him. "Why?"

"Well, the stitches are good. But... there wasn't any pain." I grinned at him and walk over to where he stood, flexing his hand and turning it over and over in the light cast from the fixture overhead.

"That, dear, is cause of the Lidocaine. Well, maybe a little is cause of my mom. She's a doctor, ya know." He nodded. I yawned then, a long, deep yawn and I apologized for it. As is always the case, once I yawned, he had to follow suit. "Time to head back to bed. Come on, I'll tuck you in."
We walk back over to his bed, he turns around suddenly, and peers deeply at me.

"Stay with me?"

I close my eyes for a moment and then nod. He smiles one of his patented grins and hopped into the bed. I pull the blanket up over him and then I crawl in on the other side. "Gideon, if you have to use the restroom, put some slippers on first okay?"

I laid down, laying on my back, and within moments, I feel him cuddle around me. I smile in the dark, feeling his body heat warm me. I love sharing a bed, even if it's only to sleep. It just... feels so right.

"I promise," Gideon said quietly as he rested his head on my shoulder. It's the last thing I remember before the day arrives.