What was supposed to be a short workday turned out to be longer than expected.

On top of the patient with the gallbladder attack, there was an early stroke victim, a motorcycle and two car crash victims. Seth opened the door of his house and collapsed onto the couch.

He almost dozed off right then and there when he heard a knock at the door. Oh no! Not another emergency, he thought. He forced himself up to answer the door.

"Jessica." He said with a surprise. Suddenly he got a bolt of adrenaline.

"Come in." She obliged and sat on the couch to which Seth joined her.

"I…hope I'm not keeping you up. You look exhausted."

"No. it's alright. Just a rough day at the ER but I'm glad to be back home." He forced a smile on his face.

"Seth, I'd like to continue our discussion on my kitchen."

He looked at her as if his eyes were saying I knew you would.

"What more is there to say Jess? I told you how I felt, and you told me how you felt. You asked if I cared Lauren as well."

Seth figured, if he poured his heart out to Jessica earlier, he might as well continue.

"The night you walked out on me. I had to blow off some steam, so I went to Lauren's house, just to talk. At least, that's what I told myself. However, when I got there, and we began to talk that was the last thing on Lauren's mind."

Jessica knew this was making Seth uncomfortable, "Seth you don't have to continue. What happened that night is no concern of mine."

"No, I need to tell you this Jess." However, Seth got up and had his back to her.

"One thing led to another and before we knew it, we were on her couch about to make love." His voice became a falsetto on the "make love" part.

Seth didn't see Jessica lower her head. He turned around and was able to continue face to face, "But, I stopped before it got too far. Something in my mind…in my heart, told me it wasn't right. Lauren was hurt, at first. She agreed it wasn't right, at that moment. I think she assumed there would be "another time" but I didn't want to say anything to discourage her more, so we just talked the rest of the night and into the morning. We ended up falling asleep on the couch and then that busy-body Eve came by, banging on the door."

Jessica admitted, "I know. I saw Eve later that morning and she told me she found you and Lauren."

Seth's eyes widened. "That woman just can't wait to spread the latest gossip!"

Jessica gave a small laugh under her breath.

"Anyway, it wasn't until after I left your kitchen that I began to think. Then, seeing some of the victims I had to treat in the ER made me realize life is so fleeting. I was a damn coward this afternoon. After you mentioned you would never love another man again, I didn't want to hear anything more you had to say. That emergency call saved my bacon."

Jessica looked at Seth, holding onto every word, "Damn it woman. I love you, but in a different way than I loved Ruth. Maybe it's more of a love that develops when we mature. I need you in my life Jessica Fletcher. Oh, I don't mean I want you to marry me and we live happily ever after but, I need you…when the world is cold and ugly I need someone to cling to in the empty days and lonely nights."

Tears began to fill Jessica's eyes. "Seth, when I mentioned I could never love a man the way I loved Frank, I did mean it. However, I still believe that there's a different love one feels after losing a spouse. The love of a special person that makes you laugh, cry, get angry but most of all, makes you feel special."

Seth gave the biggest sigh of relief. "Jessica, you're the one I want to be with and…you're the one I…want to make love to."