A beaming Doctor Tenney, still wearing his operating room scrubs, crossed the waiting room towards them briskly. All three got to their feet, Olsen putting a hand on Steve's good elbow to help him up.

"Miss Stone," Tenney said cheerfully, focusing on Jeannie after his eyes briefly flickered over the two men with her, "you can relax, everything went perfectly. Your dad's in Recovery and he'll be moved back into his room in a couple of hours."

Jeannie looked up, closing her eyes and sighing heavily. "Thank god." From the corner of her eye she saw similar reactions from the others. "Oh, uh, Doctor, this is Steve Keller, my dad's partner, and Rudy Olsen, their boss," she finished with a chuckle as Olsen stuck his hand out.

"Dr. Tenney. Great to meet you," he said as he shook Olsen's hand, including Steve in his smile. He nodded at the arm. "How's the wing?"

Surprised by the question, Steve frowned slightly then smiled. "It's doing great…" he answered hesitantly. "But I thought it was Dr. Conrad… wasn't it…?"

"Yeah, yeah," Tenney said quickly, "it was Conrad. He's a golfing buddy. Anyway, he told me all about it… all those stitches… yikes!" He bobbed his eyebrows quickly with a pretend grimace.

Nodding grimly, Steve chuckled. "Yeah, yikes is right. But I'm doing great, thanks for asking."

Tenney looked at Jeannie. "Well, I better get back to my patient. Just wanted to give you the good news in person. I'll see you later." And with a nod at all three, he walked away.

They looked at each other, then Olsen put his arm around Jeannie and squeezed as they all smiled in relief.

# # # # #

"Hey, hey," Steve said warmly as he led the way into Mike's room a little over two hours later. Jeannie had waved him ahead of her at the door, still unsure of what was going on between them but absolutely certain that something definitely was amiss. "You're looking pretty good for a guy who just had a bullet removed from his chest."

"My back, actually," Mike answered with a chuckle, "but close enough. So you're out?" he asked as he eyed the new clothes approvingly.

Noticing the look, with a quick laugh Steve nodded. "Yeah, a couple of hours ago. I've yet to actually leave the building though."

Mike nodded almost self-consciously. Then his eyes widened as he spied his daughter lingering near the door, waiting patiently for the partners to have their moment. She moved quickly to the bed to give him a kiss.

"How're you feeling, Daddy?"

"Good, good," he assured her. "Well, I can't feel a thing right now actually, so I'm sure that's going to change."

"I bet it is," she smiled sympathetically, glancing at Steve then back at her father. "So, we have a couple of things we want to discuss with you."

Frowning, Mike glanced from his daughter to his partner and back. "What things?"

"Well, first off, Rudy's back and he brought you and Steve some heavy coats for the trip home… and that's what's going to be a problem."

"Why is that a problem?"

"Well," she said with a wry smile, "today's the 22nd, and they're not going to let you out for at least a couple of days, which makes it the 24th, at the earliest. And if they want to keep you another day…"

"Then that would make it Christmas Day…" Mike finished for her, punctuating the statement with a frustrated sigh. "I'm sorry, sweetheart…"

"Mike, you have nothing to be sorry about, it's not your fault," she assured him quickly with a warm chuckle. She squeezed his arm as she glanced up at Steve. "I'm just glad I'm taking you both home."

His eyes flicked up to his partner's and they both smiled self-consciously. "Well, when you put it that way…" Mike said lightly, turning his attention back to his daughter with a loving chuckle. "So what do you suggest?"

Smiling broadly, she said, "Well, we can either drive home on Christmas Day, which I'm not too keen on even though it's a relatively short trip, or we stay here on Christmas Day, drive home the next day, and celebrate our own Christmas on the weekend. How does that sound?" She looked from one partner to the other.

Mike stared at Steve, his eyes narrowing. "I have a feeling you voted already, am I right?"

The younger man grinned and raised his eyebrows before nodding. "I went with Door Number Two, having our own Christmas next weekend."

Mike's eyes travelled to his daughter, who just smiled back at him enigmatically.

"So am I the tie-breaker or does my vote make it unanimous?"

"My lips are sealed," Jeannie chuckled, miming locking her lips closed.

Mike snorted. "Great… well, I kinda like option number two too – I mean, as well," he chuckled and they both joined in. "But, ah…" he looked at her apologetically again, "what are we going to do about a turkey?"

She winked and patted his arm. "Don't you worry your pretty little head about it; a solution is already in the works."

His smile melted away and he stared at her through narrowed eyes and with pursed lips. "Ha ha ha," he intoned dryly as Steve struggled not to laugh. "Don't forget, young lady, that you're talking to an invalid here…" he whined petulantly as she sighed theatrically and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, right," she nodded quickly, then leaned over the bed and kissed his cheek.

Laughing warmly, he reached up with his right hand, pulled her head closer once more to plant a kiss on her lips then released her with an affectionate growl. "I can think of another small problem with all this…" he sighed with raised eyebrows.

She frowned at him, glancing at Steve. "What problem?"

"Sweetheart, once we got started on this case, it just took on a life of its own. Not only did I not get a turkey, I haven't got you… either of you," his eyes flicked to his partner, "your Christmas presents yet. I thought I was going to have lots of time."

"Me too," Steve added confessionally.

With a sigh and a loving smile, Jeannie cocked her head. "Okay, you two, do you really think I care more about presents than the both of you? You have to know that the best present I could get this year is both of you back… in relatively one piece," she finished with a chuckle, trying to keep all maudlin tones out of the conversation.

Mike stared at his daughter for a long second, unable to stop the tears that had sprung to his eyes. Blinking quickly, he reached up again to pull her down for another kiss. As she straightened up, he looked past her to Steve. "You said there were a couple of things you wanted to talk to me about… What's the other?"

Jeannie glanced at Steve and took a step back so he could move closer to the bed. Mike frowned. Noticing, the younger man said quickly, "No no no, don't worry, it's nothing bad. Like Jeannie said, Rudy's here, and he's gonna be here for a couple of days so-"

"He's not staying here for Christmas too, is he?" Mike asked anxiously. He knew the captain had grandchildren he doted on and didn't get to see very often.

Steve fixed his partner with a stern glare. "Would you let me finish?" he asked calmly and firmly, with a brief but annoyed smile.

Suitably chastised, Mike closed his mouth and frowned.

After taking a noticeable breath, Steve began again. "So he's going to be here for a couple of days and he thought that you and I would like to have a meeting with Chief Powell and a couple of the other cops and be brought up to speed on everything that happened at the three properties after… well, after our little incident…" He paused and let everything he had just said sink in. "So… would you like to do that?"

Mike's frown turned into a smirk. "What do you think?" he asked dryly and the younger man chuckled, smiling.

"That's what I thought so I told him yes. He's arranging it all for, hopefully, tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Mike asked sharply. "Wow, they work fast." He knew trying to get officers free to go to another city on such short notice was problematic. "What if, uh…?" he asked with raised eyebrows, his right hand going to his still bandaged left shoulder.

Steve smiled knowingly. "I knew you'd be okay," he said softly, holding Mike's questioning stare for a long silent moment as he watched the older man's eyes brighten again. Then he grinned. "Besides," he continued, "there's a Sergeant Walker that really wants to meet you."

"Sergeant Walker?"

Steve nodded, bobbing his eyebrows. "He's the Vacaville cop we were on the radio with when we were in the car, remember?"

Mike nodded slowly, his eyes unfocusing as he struggled to recall. "Right, yeah, him…"

Waiting for a beat for the older man to look back at him, Steve said, "He, ah, he came to visit us in here… while you were, uh, you were still unconscious… He was one of the guys that found us… and found you…"

Mike snorted mirthlessly, blinking quickly as his eyes clouded. He cleared his throat. "Then I guess we owe him one, right…?" he said softly as he felt Steve's hand on his arm and a gentle squeeze.

"Yeah, I guess we do…" Steve almost whispered as everything they had been through came flooding back and his grip on his partner's arm tightened.

After giving them a few seconds to deal with the sudden rush of emotion, Jeannie discreetly cleared her throat then stepped closer to them both. "Listen, ah, Daddy, the doctor told us we shouldn't tire you out, so we better get out of here and let you get some sleep. I want to make sure you're strong enough to actually go home in a few days, right?"

He smiled drowsily, starting to look tired, then nodded, blinking slowly. "You're right… and I want to go home, that's for sure…"

She smiled lovingly, reaching out to stroke his cheek. "Good. Okay, well, we'll get out of here and let you rest. But we'll be back to bring you dinner, okay?"

"I'd like that…"

She kissed him again then moved towards the door. Steve took a step closer to the bed. "I'll see you later," he said softly with a gentle smile.

As he turned to leave, Mike said lightly, "Hey, I like the new clothes. Jeannie get those for you?"

Steve chuckled, shaking his head. "Rudy, believe it or not. And he bought some for you too." He had reached the door that Jeannie was holding open and, as he disappeared through it, pointed at the bed with a wink.

As the door closed softly in their wake, Mike looked at the ceiling, frowning. "Rudy…?"

# # # # #

Steve glanced at his watch. "They should be here soon," he sighed, looking towards the bed again. "Are you sure you're up for this?"

Mike opened his eyes and turned his head. "I'm fine, for the thirtieth time," he intoned pedantically from under a lowered brow.

The previous night's dinner had been a rather quick and uncomfortable episode. After the anesthetic had worn off, Mike had been in more discomfort than he had anticipated and even upping his meds hadn't seemed to help. He'd had no appetite for anything, let alone the deliciously mouth-watering lasagna that Jeannie and Rudy had brought for them all, and his visitors had left soon after arriving. As Mike struggled to sleep despite the ache in his chest, they had solemnly returned to the motel and a troubled night.

But Jeannie had been heartened earlier that morning when her father had greeted her with a broad smile, assuring her he had actually gotten a pretty good night's sleep and was feeling much better.

And now he and his partner were waiting to find out how and why they had been ambushed, and what had happened after they'd been rescued.

There was a sharp knock on the door. Steve looked at the bed, and they exchanged encouraging but slightly apprehensive looks as he got to his feet and opened the door.