Chapter 27:

The night had been a less than restful night for all three of them between the constant interruption of nurses coming in and out, machines running, and the uncomfortable bedding. Mac was being given painkillers every few hours, which were causing his moods to be irregular during the night. Allie awoke each time a nurse came in the room and woke Mac up-not that she had really been sleeping deeply anyways. She envied her son who could sleep through seemingly anything under normal circumstances. However, even Cayden awoke a few times that night and had to get himself back to sleep. That being said, it wasn't much of an ordeal when a nurse came in at seven in the morning with breakfast for Mac. She sat the plate of eggs on his tray table, and asked if she could get the guests something as well-which they graciously denied.

After Mac's breakfast a nurse came in to clean his wounds and bathe him, and Allie and Cayden went to the cafeteria of the hospital to get their own breakfast. "So Mom…" Cayden was staring in on her, taking a bite of breakfast sandwich, "how are you?"

"Tired." She gulped down some orange juice and gnawed ravenously on a slice of bacon.

"How's Mac?" His voice told her there was something deeper he was asking than the obvious meaning of the question.

"You know about as much as I do. He's doing well, the bullets somehow managed to miss all his major veins and arteries. He might have some motor skills issues for a bit, but nothing major…"

"Oh, Mom, stop it!" Cayden practically laughed. "How are you and Mac?" Allie gave her son a funny look,

"Fine…" Her word was slow and pronounced, knowing and not knowing where Cayden was headed by this at the same time."

"So why'd we stay here last night?" Cayden changed he approach, and Allie bought into it,

"We stayed because Mac was alone and we're all he had. The rest of the team was taking care of the case and he… No one should be in a hospital alone. Cayden, I'm staying here for him as long as I have to. I have no problem with you missing school this week if you're here with Mac and I, but if you don't want to be here then you can go to school and I'll find you a babysitter," Her words were spilling out of her mouth before she could even comprehend what she was saying,

"Mom,"

"There is no way I am allowing you to stay home alone, I know I've let you do it before, but that was in a small town with family nearby and I wasn't a law enforcement officer. You know, I'm sure the Messers would take you in for a couple days… Maybe Mrs. Hammerback, she's a nice lady and she stays at home most of the time."

"Mom," Cayden raised his voice, getting Allie to be quiet for a few moments. "I want to stay here with you and Mac. It's fine. My point is, why are we here?" She looked at him, confused,

"I just told you. We're here because Mac shouldn't be alone, he deserves better than to be all by himself in a hospital."

"No, Mom, you said it yesterday." Cayden's eyes stayed firmly on his mother, and she could feel the way he was staring at her beginning to eat away at her. "We're here because you're in love with Mac. That's why."

"Cayden," She was serious again, "I… I do love Mac." The sentence was relatively easy for her to say, much more so than she would've expected. "He's a wonderful man, and he's a great friend." She bit her lip, trying to think of what she could say next. "We've been in New York almost 3 months, though, and that's not near enough time to get to know someone…"

"Do you know that the average couple says they first fell in love with each other having only known each other 2-6 months?" Cayden spurted out.

"How could you ever know that?"

"Magazine articles, research, you know… Places." He answered, as if it were nothing. She couldn't resist but laugh,

"You certainly got that-how you just give out random blurbs of information- from me too."

"Mom," Cayden was serious again, "Be honest with me, I'm your son, I know you better than anyone. I know what you feel, even if you aren't going to tell me. Do you love Mac?" Allie found it difficult to meet her son's eyes and the sting of tears as she bit her lip and nodded,

"Yes, Cayden, I do. Second to you, I love Mac more than anything in the world." Cayden nodded, taking his mother's hand in his own. "I sound like such a fool." She wiped away a stray tear. "Here I am, a grown woman with a kid to support, and I'm swooning over my boss-of whom I have no chance with."

"Mom, excuse me but, are you freaking nuts!?" Cayden exclaimed, "Look at him! Look at how he looks at you and talks with you and jokes and how his mannerisms change. He's crazy for you, Mom! Why would you say you have no chance with him?"

"Cayden, Mac will always love Claire,"

"Yeah, Mom, he will! She was his wife, was. She's dead now." Cayden's bluntness wasn't a surprise to Allie, but the crudeness was, and her eyes must've shown it, "I'm sorry, that was a bit rough, but you get my point Mom. Mac loved her, yeah, he always will, just like there is a part of you that-no matter how shitty he was to you- will always love Dad. The thing is, that was in the past. Mom, if you'd just stop being so stubborn you might see that you could have a future with someone! You're so scared of getting hurt again, that you're jeopardizing your happiness and finding your true love!" Cayden's hands and arms were all over the place as he spoke, gasping at intervals to catch his breath. "You just told me you love him, Mom, please don't let your bullheadedness get in the way of that. Please, let yourself be vulnerable… Just once, Mom, I know Mac wouldn't break your heart like Dad did. I know it; Mac would treat you like a princess- how you deserve.

"I can't compete with Claire." Allie was shaking her head, looking at the floor to avoid Cayden's watery eyes, "I couldn't and I don't want to."

"Then don't, Mom. Mac isn't in love with you for being like Claire, he's in love with you for being who you are." Allie lifted her eyes,

"How do you know he's in-?"

"I'm very perceptive, Mom, I notice these things. Now," He glanced at the clock on the wall, "The Messers and Detective Flack will be here in an hour, let's get you cleaned up, and go back to the room." The way that Cayden spoke made her smile faintly to herself and allow for a light chuckle Gosh he talks just like me. "Come on," He pulled lightly on her arm, "Oh, Mom, don't make me pick you up and carry you to the bathroom. You know very well that I could do it." He didn't even allow his mother time to respond before his arms enveloped around her waist, her hands instantly went to them,

"Okay, Kid, you're not going to play this card on me in public." She stood, smoothing her old sweater that was now crinkled due to having slept in it. Making their way towards the bathroom, Allie snaked her arm around her son's waist, pulling him close to her, "How'd I end up with such a great kid?" Cayden's arm fell on Allie's shoulders,

"Well, I guess because I have a pretty awesome mom." She smiled to herself; it never failed to make her feel a warm sense of victory when he said something like that. Most kids wouldn't even want to dare be seen with their parents at his age. Her thoughts added to the warm feeling within her, I'm glad mine isn't like that.

Staring at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, she felt a wave of butterflies in her gut. She slid her thin framed glasses inside her purse. No way am I letting these things sit on a hospital bathroom counter. Who knows what's in here. She splashed some water in her face to freshen and wake her up. She readjusted the sloppy bun atop her head, too tired to do anything more with it. She then fished some chap stick out of her bag and applied it before washing her hands and putting her glasses back on. I've really done well in the aging process.

"Mom," Cayden whined when she stepped out of the bathroom, "Where is your makeup? Why isn't your hair down- guys like women's hair down. Spray some of that prettystink stuff!"

"Perfume." She gave him the word,

"Call it what you want. Why didn't you do anything?"

"Cayden, we are in a hospital. This is hardly the place to hit on a guy-especially when he is the patient. We're here so he's not alone."

"You're so confusing, Mom. You say that, then you say you're here because you love him, then suddenly you're here so he's not alone again." His voice grew more and more irate the longer he spoke.

"I do love him, Cade, and I know you do too. However, we're here as support. When and IF there is a time that Mac and I are… More than friends… Well, then time will tell. Right now, he just needs to get well. As his friend, I'm not abandoning him during this time."

"Whatever," The single word let Allie know that the conversation was over for the time being, but by no means was it over with forever. They took the elevator up to the floor Mac was on in silence, and as soon as they rounded one of the corners of the long hallway of rooms, ran into Flack, Danny, and Lindsay coming in the opposite direction.

"Hey," Flack called, "what room?"

"Here, follow us." Allie sprinted- Cayden behind her- to meet up with her coworkers. "Why didn't they send a nurse up here to show you to his room?"

" I have no idea." Lindsay replied, evidently exasperated.

"In case you haven't noticed, Mom, this hospital doesn't exactly make the most sense." Cayden threw his two sense in the conversation as they approached Mac's room. Allie knocked on Mac's door,

" I brought company." She said entering, the line of people behind her.

"So you have." Mac tried to laugh.

"How are you feeling?" Lindsay asked, leaning over the side rails of the bed to give Mac a light hug, which still seemed to hurt judging by the expression on his face.

"Hey, Boss." Danny shook Mac's hand, "How'd you wind up in here again?"

"I'm not sure," His voice was hardly more than a raspy whisper again, "Shot twice in a matter of a few years, I'd say I need to quit getting shot at."

"You think?" Flack interjected, "You scare us all half to death each time you do."

It was a tight squeeze- six people in a tiny hospital room- but they managed to make it work for a couple of hours. Though he was still tired, Mac seemed to perk up at having seen some of his team around him. "You all are great, and I'm lucky to know you all." Mac said as the Messers and Flack were getting up to leave.

"Danny and I will be back tomorrow." Lindsay said, opening the door.

"Thanks, but you don't need to. It's not like I'm a family member or-"

"You are family, Mac." Lindsay, Danny, Flack, Allie, and Cayden all said at the exact same time-some of their voices more scolding and some of them lighter.

Later that night, Allie could no longer bear to sit in her clothes any longer. Through the fuss of the last couple of days, she hadn't noticed that she still had Mac's blood on her pants from when she had tried to stop the bleeding waiting for the ambulance. "I need to go home." She sighed, "This is disgusting, I can't believe none of the nurses have pointed it out, I can't believe I didn't notice it! I'll be back in a half hour; I need to go get a change of clothes at home." She kissed Mac's forehead briskly before leaving, "Come on, Cade."

"Actually, Mom, I think I'd rather stay here with Mac." She was a bit surprised by his request, but not opposed,

"Well as long as he doesn't mind…" Her voice drifted, and her eyes instantly flashed to Mac's.

"Of course not," Mac waved his hand, "take your time. It's been awhile since the boy and I have had some alone time." He put his arm around Cayden's-seated very close to Mac's bed- neck a bit rougher than was necessary. "I need to talk with him."

A/N It feels so good to be writing this again, and to have written two chapters in one weekend! I hope I can update frequently this week, know that I'm trying my best to keep this story at the point where it has as many regular updates as possible. My classes this semester aren't so horrible as they were last- I think- so I hope that means more writing time. I realllllly enjoyed writing this chapter, what about you? Love hearing what y'all think. :)