It had been five long, boring, days in the hospital and Sharon found herself already itching to get out of the hospital and into her own home. She understood the need to be in a place that could help her immediately if she had another attack, but as she was accustomed to doing something, this enforced quietude was beginning to grate.

And if she was honest with herself, the secret that she was keeping was also beginning to weigh heavily on her heart. She knew that she needed to tell Andy, sooner rather than later, but there was this heavy feeling of trepidation that crept into the pit of her stomach every time that she had gone to tell him about the kisses. Still, there was a part of her that wanted to keep everything a secret, because she didn't want to lose Andy, not when her health was so precarious.

The door to her room opened without preamble, and she knew that her husband had arrived, since everyone else made certain to announce their arrival by knocking. "Hello, Andy," she called out when she saw him appear, a large bouquet of flowers in his hands. "Those are lovely."

"Yeah, Gus did a good job picking them out. I figured that you would want something pretty to brighten up this room. Everything's a little bland."
She laughed a little as she nodded, pointing towards the window sill. Andy nodded and set the vase down there before coming over to her side and taking a seat on the bed. She gave him a small smile before scooting over a little to give him more room. "Still, it was very kind of you both to think of me. How is the case going?"

"Nowhere fast. We all know that Stroh is behind all these attacks on Rusty and Andrea, but Mason doesn't see it that way, and now that the man has gone underground, our attention is divided between other cases and working on taking down Stroh in our limited free time. It's grating on me, and Louie is just as on edge."

"And how is Rusty doing? I'd imagine that Andrea is running him ragged, since her shoulder is still bothering her."

"He hasn't complained too much, but I think that might be because Andrea has taken to being a little mother hen in the apartment. I think that it's because you aren't home to be a more calming influence. There's just something a little frenetic about her these days."

"Ah," she murmured, threading her fingers together as she looked away from him, staring at the flowers she had brought. "I'm really bored here."

"Andrea figured that would be the case. She's going to stop by after work with Rusty, so that there's no need to split up the guards." He patted her hand softly, causing her to look up at him. "How are things between you? I know that you haven't really talked about what happened the night of your attack, but things seem to be working out a little better, yes?"

Sharon could tell by the look on his face that he was not fishing for information from her, and that somehow made her feel all the worse. Letting out a long breath, she nodded in response to her husband. "Things have been awkward, yes, because I think she feels a bit guilty about my being here. It's not her fault that I have a bad heart, just like you."

She pursed her lips together to try and stifle her sob as Andy reached over and placed his hand over hers. "That just makes us a perfectly matched pair."

A small whimper escaped her lips as she nodded, feeling like his words were cutting her heart to ribbons. "That we are. Andy?"

"Yes?"

She didn't know why she was about to tell him now, only that she knew it had to be right then, before the words got too stuck in her throat and would never agree to come out. Taking a deep, calming, breath, she clasped his hand, needing to feel like he was connected to her in some small way before everything went to hell. He squeezed reassuringly, and Sharon nodded, trying to screw up the courage to tell him what was weighing on her heart and mind.

"Sharon? Everything is going to be okay."

"No, it's not!" she finally managed to get out, looking up at the ceiling as she felt the first tears start to prickle her eyes. "I've been less than faithful to you. I didn't mean to do it, but I've kissed someone else, twice now."

"Let me guess, Andrea?"
She gasped a little as she whipped her head down to look at him. "How did you know? I didn't breathe a word about it, except to our priest to receive absolution."

"You've been close for some time now, and there are certain things that people know, Sharon. Andrea's been half in love with you for years, I can't believe you've never seen that."

"She's just always been my best friend, Andy. I've never looked at her like that. Until we kissed."

He let go of her hand to reach up and cup her cheek, his thumb running along the edge of her cheekbone, absently flicking away the tears that were falling. "I had always assumed that things had gotten a bit physical between the two of you, based on how close you allowed her in your sphere. Emma and Linda were never as close with you as Andrea."

"Well, Linda was always on the opposite side of the table, you know that. And Emma was so much younger than Andrea and myself. We don't have anything in common."

"And you and Andrea do?"

"Yes," she replied quickly, and then stopped to think about things. Truthfully, they didn't have that much in common, seeing as how they came from much different backgrounds. But they had always clicked on a level that seemed to be beyond commonalities. "Or maybe I just feel like we have a lot in common because of how well we get along?"

Andy nodded at that before he leaned in and kissed her forehead tenderly. "You love deeply and well. And that's why you probably didn't notice that the way Andrea feels for you is a little different than how you look at her. I probably wouldn't have noticed it, either, if Andrea hadn't started staying with us."

Sharon swallowed thickly as she leaned closer to him, resting her head on his chest. "Where do we go from here? I love you, but…"

"But you don't want to lose either of us." Sharon nodded. "Well, I know that I don't want to lose you, either, so I guess that it will be up to you to decide where you want to go from here. Knowing that you've kissed Andrea doesn't bother me, honestly, because I love you."

"I kept it from you until now. Are you certain that doesn't bother you in the slightest?" She was having a hard time wrapping her mind around the fact that he wasn't upset with her, that he wasn't demanding a divorce, and that he was acting in the complete opposite way that Jack might have reacted, and so she couldn't help but probe and question a little more.

Andy seemed to know what her heart was getting at, as he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close, rocking them back and forth gently. "Yes, I'm bothered a little. But I'm not going to be like Jack and berate you for this. And, if you allow me to be slightly off color for a moment, the idea of you kissing Andrea is an unexpected good thing."

Sharon knew he was teasing her, so she lightly smacked his chest before chuckling and kissing his jaw lightly. "Don't think that it will ever happen where you can see, Andrew Flynn. Andrea is deeply private, and the fact that I've told you this about us would embarrass her so much. Let me break it to her that you know? And try not to tease her about it when you see her tonight."

"Of course, Sharon," he replied before kissing the top of her head, and she sighed with pleasure, so glad that she had had the courage to tell him before things had gotten out of hand.