A week later, Arthur got out of the hospital. "You've been a great roommate," he said. "I hope you're up running again soon."

"Thanks, Arthur," Mac replied. "I couldn't have asked for a better roommate."

"Maybe I'll come and visit you."

"You do that."

"See ya, young man. Hey, and if I were you, I'd be sparking at that foxy lady that's always coming around here."

Mac smiled slightly. "You mean Jo?"

"Yeah, that lady detective with the pretty eyes. You waste your time."

"Take care of yourself, Arthur."

"Oh, if I was about thirty years younger, you'd have some competition."

Mac smiled as Arthur walked out but then he shook his head. He did not want to start something with Jo and he certainly did not have any indication that she wanted to start anything with him. Besides that, he was flat of his back in the bed. They had been treating him for bed sores and turning him more because he was having less pain. He could move his feet better now and his hand was better too. He felt like his body was trying to get back to normal but he was still not able to get up. He would not be able to do that until his legs had healed enough for him to stand on them. The therapist had been helping him exercise his hips slightly and to exercise his ankles. He was beginning to wonder if he would ever be able to walk again.

That night, Mac still did not have another roommate. He hoped he did not get another one. He did not think he could get one as good as Arthur had been, but he was alone now all the time.

During the night, Mac woke up when he heard someone coming into his room. He was barely awake but they came over to the bed and Mac gasped when he saw who it was. He tried to reach for the nurse button but Howard Bailey grabbed it and detached it from the wall socket. He pushed Mac down on the bed covering his mouth. Mac grabbed his collars with his left hand but he could not push him off. "How ya doing, Taylor?" Bailey asked quietly. "I didn't come here to hurt you, I just wanted you to know that I haven't forgotten about you."

Mac tried to push him away but he did not have enough strength and the struggle was making his legs hurt. "I'll be around when you get back to your old self, Taylor," Bailey said. He moved his hand slowly from Mac's mouth.

"The next time we meet when I'm back to my old self, I'll kill you," Mac said.

"That's the spirit. We'll fight to the death."

"You did this to me!"

Bailey put his hand over Mac's mouth again. "Shhhh, we don't want anyone getting curious," he said.

"Get off me!" Mac demanded. He was trembling afraid that Bailey was going to hurt him before he left. It made him angry because he was afraid but he could not defend himself.

"Relax, Taylor. I don't attack helpless people. I want a fair fight."

"We already had a fair fight…except you kidnapped me and forced me to fight."

"It was the only way to get you there."

"I'm not going to deal with you anymore."

"You'll never be rid of me, Taylor. I waited for years to get to you."

"Get away from me!"

Bailey stood up. "See ya around, Mac."

Mac was so angry, he felt like he could not breathe but he was in pain too. He could not reach the call button to get any help. He wanted to know how Howard Bailey got into this hospital at night. Then again, he knew that Bailey could get into just about any place he wanted. "Hey!" Mac yelled. "Hey!" He kept yelling until finally a nurse came into the room.

"Mister Taylor, are you alright?" she asked.

"No! Someone was in my room!"

The nurse came over to him. "Who was in your room?"

"Howard Bailey."

"Did he hurt you?"

"No, but my legs are hurting."

The nurse noticed that the call button was detached. She hooked it back up and pressed the emergency button. She could see that Mac was in pain and he could not relax. Soon, another nurse came to the room and a security guard. "What's going on?" the nurse asked.

"Mister Taylor says someone was in his room."

"Who was it?" the security guard asked. "I didn't see anyone come in who wasn't supposed to be here."

"It was Howard Bailey!" Mac yelled. "He's the one who did this to me!"

"I'll seal the building."

The security guard left. The nurses tried to get Mac calmed down again. "How did he get in here?" Mac demanded.

"We don't know," the second nurse, who was Mac's regular nurse said. Her name was Betty. "I'll be right back."

The other nurse stayed with Mac. "Just relax," she said.

Mac did not think he could relax. Bailey had gotten into this hospital. He did not feel safe here now but Bailey had said he would see him again when he was back to his old self and said he did not come there to hurt him. Mac did not know whether to believe that or not.

Betty soon came back with Mac's pain medication but she put it into the IV. It would also calm him down. It did not take long for Mac to feel the medicine. He started getting sleepy. "You stay with him, Sarah," Betty said.

"I will," Sarah replied. She stroked Mac's hair and wondered how there had been such a lapse in security. They had never had anything like that happen before.

The security guard had no idea what Howard Bailey looked like, but little did he know that Bailey was posing as a new janitor and he still had his loyal friends around to help him when he wanted to do his thing. He watched them search up and down the halls for someone, and smiled to know that they did not know they were looking for him. He did not intend to hurt Mac anyway. Let them look for him. He would not see Mac Taylor again until he was ready to fight and he knew that would be a long time. He knew it took a very long time for femur bones to heal. He had just wanted to scare him. He could see the fear in Mac's eyes when he was holding him down but he saw the anger too. He knew Mac meant it when he said he would kill him.

The next morning, Jo heard about what happened during the night, but Don caught her in the lobby. "Jo, don't go down there and make things worse for Mac," Don said. "Bailey doesn't want to kill Mac."

"I don't care if he doesn't!" Jo said. "He was not supposed to get into that hospital to Mac! He must be terrified!"

"I talked to the security guard and the nurses. Mac is fine. He was shaken up but after he had his pain medicine he slept the rest of the night."

"I don't like this, Don. That guy is still around and he wants to get at Mac."

"He won't get at him but we can't stay there with Mac all the time. They're responsible for the security there."

"Someone could stay there with him at night at least."

"They don't allow that, Jo."

"This is a different situation."

"I don't think Bailey is going to come back. Mac doesn't even think he'll be back. He told Mac that he would meet him when he was back to his old self."

"That is a threat."

"We can't do anything about it if we can't find him."

"Don, he could be working in that hospital or hanging around there."

"I suppose we could go and look at pictures of all their employees."

"Good. I would like to do that."

"Let's go then but let's not stir up trouble at the hospital. The chief was very specific about that. He wants to find Bailey but he doesn't want to cause trouble over there."

"Okay. Have you ever known me to be unreasonable?"

"Nah."

Don and Jo went to the hospital and went to see Mac first. He was eating his breakfast when they walked in. "Morning, Mac," Don said.

"How are you?" Jo asked.

"I'm fine," Mac replied but they could see that he was not fine.

"Do they have any idea how he got in here?"

"No. The security guard found a gap in the security footage just like it was at every other crime Bailey committed."

Jo stroked Mac's cheek. "I'm sorry this happened," she said.

"It wasn't your fault. He probably won't be back."

"What exactly did he say?"

"He said he wanted me to know that he was still around and that he intends to meet me again when I'm back to my old self. He intends for us to fight again."

"Mac, why is he so determined to compete with you?"

"Jo, it's an old story."

"One that I want to hear. I want to know why this man is so determined to best you at something."

"Bailey is one of those people who have to have competition. He joined the Marines about the same time I did."

"Did you know each other before that?"

"We took the exam at the same time and he was a hothead then. He thought he was already a Marine before he ever got to boot camp and when I did better at some things than he did, he got very competitive and caused me a lot of trouble."

"Like what?"

"Jo, that was a long time ago and it doesn't matter anymore."

"I still want to hear it."

"Bailey is six-foot four and well, I'm not. He thought since he was taller than me, he should be better than me and when he wasn't, I guess it was more than he could handle."

"And all this stemmed from that? What kind of trouble did he cause you?"

"Jo, I don't really want to talk about this."
"I'm trying to get an idea of his mindset."

"It's arrogant."

"I still want to know what kind of trouble he caused you."

"That's just because you're nosey."

"I am, and I can't help it."

"All I know now is that he intends to show up again after I'm 'back to my old self'. That means he wants me to be able to fight him." Mac frowned. "I couldn't do anything. If he had wanted to hurt me, he could have. I couldn't even push him at all."

Jo knew how strong Mac had always been. "Don't worry," she said. "You're going to be just as good as you ever were."

"I hope so."

"Don't give me that. I'm going to be here and push you if I have to."

"Do you know how long I'm going to be here?"

"I know, Mac but we'll be here for you."

Mac frowned. He knew they would all try to be here for him but he had to get up on his own. He could not imagine getting up on his legs. They felt so weak but he knew that therapist was going to start doing more rigorous exercises soon. She only exercised his feet and ankles and his arms but she would start doing his knees and lifting his legs. He dreaded that but he wanted to get off this bed no matter what it took.

That night, Mac did not think he could go to sleep but the nurses assured him that they would be watching his room and no one would get in there. He did not think Howard Bailey would come back again, but he could not stay awake when he took that medicine. He had to go to sleep.

The next morning, after breakfast, the doctor was there to see Mac and he gave the therapist permission to start bending his leg but the braces would have to be put back on afterward. Mac thought this was not going to be pleasant but he wanted to see his legs moving even if it did hurt. By the time that session was over, Mac felt sore. His knees had been very stiff but it felt good when they moved. He was too tired to stay awake after all that.

Jo drove over to the hospital to see Mac. She went as often as she could to keep his spirits up. Today, she was bringing him some yellow roses to brighten up his room. She knocked on the door but did not hear anything so she figured he might be asleep. She went on into the room and Mac was indeed asleep. She set the roses on his table and then just watched him sleep a moment. She had always known Mac was a handsome man but she had to admit, she did not know much at all about him. She intended to stay here with him as much as she could and get him to open up about himself. He was a mystery that she wanted to solve and she thought he would be a very interesting mystery too. After all, he was going to be there for a long time.