Mac opened his eyes and he was staring at a ceiling. He could hear a beeping sound and could hear a hissing sound too. He looked around him and realized he was in a hospital. He remembered that he had been shot. He looked beside his bed and Jo was sitting there in a chair asleep. He had not expected her to be here after the way he talked to her but he was glad to see her.

Just then, Mac heard someone knock on the door. He turned his head and looked toward the door and saw Don Flack come in. He was surprised to see Mac's eyes open. "Hey, when did you wake up?" he asked loudly.

Jo was at the bedside now. "Yes, when?" she asked.

Mac looked at her as she caressed his face. "I just woke up," he said. He felt incredibly sleepy. He looked at Don. "How did you know where I was?"

"I was tracking you," Don said. "I had your cell phone monitored and when it stopped, we headed that way."

Mac absorbed that a moment and then he closed his eyes. Jo looked at Don. "I am sure glad you were watching him," she said.

"I knew that woman wouldn't give up," Don said. "I wasn't going to let her get her way and she's behind bars now and her money is not going to help her get out. She's in there for murder this time."

"I'm glad to hear that." Jo rubbed Mac's hair. "We're going away from here for a while now that she is out of the way. We have to have our vacation. He needs a break and I do too."

"You think Ellie is going to agree with that?"

"She'll be going with us. We didn't get to enjoy ourselves."

"I hope you do this time."

"I'm sure we will because we're going down South to my mother's old house. She lives in one but she has this other one over in Alabama. We're going down there and we're going to fish in that pond and walk along the trails. It's where I grew up."

"You told Mac yet?"

"No, but I'm sure he'll agree."

"Good luck and I'll be back later."

Don left and Jo leaned over Mac and kissed his forehead. "You just get well," she said. "You can rest now."

When Mac woke up again, the nurse was in the room. "Well, good morning," she said. "How are you feeling?"

Mac considered that. He thought he felt kinda numb but sleepy too. "Sleepy," he said. "And numb."

"I'm not surprised. You're on quite heavy medications for pain."

Mac looked to see if Jo was still there but she was not. He hoped she would be back soon. He wanted to talk to her and let her know that he did not mean what he had said before. He was not even sure how long he had been in the hospital. He looked at the nurse. "How long have I been in here?" he asked.

"Two days," the nurse replied. "They brought you in night before last. You slept most of yesterday and last night. You sure have a lot of friends who come to see you." She pointed to the sink counter. "You have a lot of flowers to look at."

Mac looked at the flowers. There were red roses, yellow roses and even some daisies. He had always liked flowers although they made him sneeze sometimes.

The next time Mac woke up, Jo was there. "Well, hello sleepy head," she said.

"Hi," Mac replied.

"How do you feel?"

"More awake, I think."

"I'm glad. I've been sitting in here with you sleeping so long that I think I'm getting sleepy."

Mac smiled slightly. "Jo, I didn't mean what I said."

Jo leaned over him. "Don't worry about that. I know you didn't mean it. I love you."

"I love you too, Jo."

"When you get out of here, I'm taking you down to Alabama and we're going to stay out in the country for a while so you can get well."

"Sounds good."

"We're going to stay at my old home place. I already asked my mother and she said it would be fine. She's sending someone to get it ready for us."

"I can't wait."

"We're going to sit out on that old porch swing and walk the old trails and just have some peace and quiet."

"No mad women chasing us?"

Jo smiled. "Not a single one."

"What about crazy men?"

Jo laughed. "None."

Mac looked at her a moment and stroked her hair. "I love waking up and seeing your face."

"Me too, Mac."

"Let's get married."

Jo was shocked by that statement. "What?"

Mac's eyes were closed and Jo realized he had fallen asleep. She could not believe what he just said. She thought he must have been talking out of his head because he was falling asleep. Get married? She was not sure she wanted to do that. What if it did not work out? What if he hated her after they married? She looked at Mac. Why was she making excuses? She knew he loved her and she knew she loved him. What would they do for living arrangements? Those were all things that they had to think about. She hoped he would talk about that some more when he woke up…or did she? She did not think she wanted to talk about that. She knew that Mac would want to talk about it again though.

Jo sat down in the chair beside Mac's bed. What would she say when he wanted to talk about that again? She was always accusing Mac of avoiding things but she was just as bad. She had nothing to say to him. She was afraid too but maybe she would stop being afraid this time.

Mac got out of the hospital after three days. He was terribly sore and his right arm was in a sling. He thought every muscle in his body was sore. "I don't think we can fly just yet," he said.

"Don't worry," Jo said. "We have plenty of time."

Mac grimaced as they were walking to the elevator at his apartment building. "Why are my legs and back sore?" he asked. "I wasn't shot there."

"Oh, Mac, you should know when you're wounded, it affects your whole body."

"I guess I should. Am I ever going to stop getting shot?"

Jo looked at him. "I guess it comes with the job…or at least the risk does."

They went up to Mac's apartment and he sat down on the sofa. "I don't want to get into bed yet," he said.

"I don't blame you," Jo replied. "That hospital could depress anyone." She sat down beside him. "Do you need anything?"

"How about a kiss?"

Jo smiled. "I can deal with that." She put her arms around his neck and kissed him. "Mmmm, that was good."

Mac smiled. "Yes, it was." He thought a moment. "Have you thought about what I said?"

"What?"

"About getting married?"

Jo's smile faded slightly. "I didn't know if you meant it or not."

"I knew what I was saying, Jo. I was just giving you time to think it over."

Jo leaned back on the couch. "I promised myself that I would never get married again."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Fear?"

"Jo, you don't have to be afraid with me."

"Mac, you don't know what can happen in the future."

"And neither do you."

Jo looked at him. "Do you really think you would want to be with me the rest of your life? I'm stubborn and set in my ways and I like to have things my way."

Mac leaned back. "Well, if you don't want to get married, I guess we won't." He looked at her. "Why are we dating?"

"To have fun together and have someone to love."

"Is that all? There's more to life than that. Don't you want a future to look forward to?"

"Why can't it be the way it is?"

"Because that's not what I want. I don't want to spend the night at your place or my place. I want to spend the night at our place and I want to have a family together like it is supposed to be."

Jo folded her arms. "Maybe we're wrong for each other."

"Maybe we are. You don't want to even consider anything that I want. If you want everything your way then it couldn't work anyway whether we were married or not. If I pull in my direction and you pull in yours, then it's nothing but a tug-of-war. Our paths are supposed to come together at the crook of the Y and start making the straight line together. It's not supposed to be what you want or what I want, it's supposed to be what 'we' want and need."

"Do you think it can be that way?"

"It can if we want it to be."

Jo considered that. "I don't even know what I want, Mac. I haven't thought about what I want in so long…and I never realized it until you said that to me one day. I don't think about what I want, I think about what the kids are going to do in their future and what they need."

"Like I said before, you have to think about yourself too. You're still a human being even if you are a mother."

"Don't lecture me."

"Why? You lecture me all the time. How many lectures have I endured since I've known you?"

"Okay, okay. I won't just rule out marriage if you won't push the issue."

"I'm not pushing anything. I just don't want you to dismiss it either."

"I won't. I'll think about it."

"Good." Mac looked out the window. "It's pretty quiet here."

"No, we are going to Alabama and we're going to be out in the country where it is so quiet outside that you can't hear anything."

"Sounds great."

"It is and I can't wait to get there."

"I'm going to Alabama with a banjo on my knee?"

Jo looked at him with a smile. "I'll keep the banjo. You just recuperate."

"Do you play a banjo?"

"You never know."

Mac smiled. "Are you going to play it while we sit on the porch?"

"We'll see. I play a guitar, and I used to pick at a banjo."

"We might make beautiful music together."

"We will."