"Are you sure she's alright." Travis asked the doctor. Adrien had struggled through the night and over the course of the morning she had said many strange things that didn't make any sense to Adam. When he asked Travis, he'd just say that he would explain at another time. That morning the doctor had decided to stop using the chloroform and let her wake up since the place where he suspected the skull fracture was had not swelled through the night. This delighted Adam, but she had been quite reluctant to wake up so far.

For the last couple hours, she had become quite peaceful. She would smile and laugh quietly. She would even say softly, "My babies." The doctor was becoming increasingly concerned with her quietness.

"Do you think that she's going to wake up at all?" Travis had asked him, the thought of her not waking up scared Adam so much that he couldn't bring himself to mention it.

"I don't know," the doctor answered, "She's not fighting unconsciousness anymore, but her pulse is slower. Just keep talking to her, that's the best thing that I can think of to help."

They both kept talking as much as they could, but about lunch time Adam finally passed out from exhaustion. Travis kept going as long as he could, but he eventually passed out too.

It was late in the afternoon when Ben showed up. He and the doctor found both men passed out. Ben woke them up and told them both to go lie down and get some real rest in another room. They protested, but they were so tired that they gave in when Ben said that he'd stay with her.

Ben sat there for a long time. Adrien would fidget every now and then. The doctor came in to change the dressing on her leg.

"Oh my God," she suddenly whispered. She then opened her eyes. "It opened."

She laid there for a moment with her eyes looking around. Both men stood there in amazement, scared to say a word. She tried to move but found it too painful.

"Miss Cooper?" the doctor finally asked, "How are you feeling?"

"My head is killing me," she answered, trying not to panic, "and so is my leg. What happened? Where am I?"

"You're in Doc Martin's clinic, you've been hurt pretty badly," Ben answered.

"But now that you're awake," Doc Martin added, "you might be out of the woods."

"It hurts to turn my head," Adrien stated.

"You got hit pretty hard there. I suspect you have a fracture there, and most definitely a concussion," Doc replied.

"Where's Adam?" Adrien asked.

"He's in the next room resting," Ben answered, "he passed out while waiting for you to wake up. Travis has been in the rocking chair this whole time. He's passed out too."

"Are they alright? They aren't hurt too, are they?" she asked.

"Just a few minor cuts and bruises for Adam. Travis is fine," the doctor answered.

"So what's the verdict with me?" she asked.

"Let's see, along with the head wound and concussion, you have a gunshot wound to the leg, minor cuts and a few burns," the doctor answered.

"That explains the headache. How long have I been out?"

"Almost 4 days." Ben told her.

"And Adam…"

"He hasn't left your side. He's been awake until a few hours ago. Do you want me to wake him up?" Ben asked, taking her hand.

"No. Let him sleep." she squeezed Ben's hand. "So, doc, am I going to make it.?"

"You have much better odds now that you're awake," Doc Martin answered, "I can give you something for the pain now that you're awake."

"Ah, my angel of mercy!" Adrien smirked. The doctor had Ben pick Adrien's head a little bit so she could take the medicine. "Is there any reason that I can't stay propped up a little bit?"

"As long as the pain isn't too bad," Doc answered.

"Is that what you'd like to do?" Ben asked.

"Yes, please, that's what I want Adam to see me when he wakes up," Adrien answered. "I know he's had to have been worried sick."

The doctor left the room to get some pillows to prop her up on, while Ben kept her shoulders held up.

"This doesn't hurt, does it?" Ben asked.

"Not any more than it did when I was lying down," Adrien answered.

The doctor came back with the pillows and they got her propped up a little. Ben sat down on the bed beside her.

"I want you to keep your head pretty stable for a little while," the doctor told her, "Don't overdo it."

"I won't. I promise," Adrien said and she crossed her heart and smiled as the doctor left the room.

"I see your whit is back," Ben said smiling.

"Well, at least something came out of this not damaged," Adrien weakly quipped back.

Ben laughed quietly.

"You know if anyone can get through a fiasco like this, it's you," he said.

"It's nice to know that you have faith in me, Ben."

"You know, about a year ago, someone told me to stop being so formal. I think the same goes for you." Ben said.

"What do you mean?" Adrien asked, "I'm sorry, I'm a little confused, but apparently my brain is bruised, so I have an excuse."

"Well, Adrien, you're about to be a part of this family, and with everything that you are to Adam, and everything that you've done for him, you are already family to me. Why don't you just call me Pa?"

"Oh, Ben…I mean, Pa, you're going to make me cry." The tears were welling up in her eyes when she said it.

"Why is that?"

"I've never had anyone that I actually wanted to call Pa before, much less want me to call them that. It's such an honor for you to even think of me that way. I don't know what to say." Adrien answered, her already weak voice was cracking.

"Well, I always wanted a daughter. I just never thought that I'd get one this way," he said patting her on the shoulder and then wiping the tears off of her cheeks. "You need to stop crying, dear. You'll just make that headache worse."

"I'll try, Pa," she answered with a deep breath.

"I'm going to let you rest," he leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. "I mean it, daughter. Get some rest."

"I promise. I will, Pa," she said taking hold of his hand again. "That is if you'll do me one small favor."

"And what is that?"

"Make sure Adam gets something to eat when he wakes up. I can pretty much bet that he hasn't eaten a thing since this happened. He needs to take care of himself. I don't want to see him until he does that."

"Don't worry. I'll take care of him," he squeezed her hand back, and then let go and left the room.

The door to Adrien's room opened slowly. Adam peeked in at his finance who appeared to be sleeping on the bed.

He cursed under his breath, "I missed her."

He continued into the room and sat back down where he'd been sitting the past four days. He took her hand again.

"It's about time you woke up, darling," Adrien said, opening her eyes a little bit.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you," Adam whispered, "but it's nice to look into your eyes. I've missed them." He kissed her on the forehead.

"I wasn't asleep," she whispered, closing her eyes again, "I was just resting my eyes until you woke up. I've got a killer headache. It helps to keep my eyes closed."

"Oh sweetheart," Adam sympathized as he brushed the hair out of her face, "do you need the doc to give you something for the pain?"

"He already has," she answered, "it's not quite knocking it."

"Do you want me to see if there's anything else he can give you?" Adam asked, the concern was painted all over his face.

"No," she answered. Her face was deathly serious, and she squeezed his hand tighter than ever, "don't leave me."

A couple weeks went by, Adrien healed quickly. As soon as she was able to sit for a while and not have much of a headache, Adam took her home to the Ponderosa.

Adam spent every minute that he could with Adrien. Ben just about deemed Adam as completely useless on the ranch, but the he thought about what Adam had gone through. He thought that he was going to watch the love of his life die. Ben knew the pain of that reality all too well.

By the time that Adrien could walk with a crutch, the school year was already over. Adrien was sad that she didn't get to say goodbye to her students, but then again, she was glad that she didn't have to deal with trying to conduct class at the hotel.

One day, she was sitting in her room writing a letter to her brother Simon, and it hit her. It was all really happening.

"I'm really getting married," she said to herself, "I'm not a ballerina anymore. I'm not a teacher anymore. I'll actually be someone's wife. I won't carry a name that has so much pain behind it anymore. I will have a name that carries promise, respect, and a future." She looked down at her engagement ring. "I don't deserve him. He's way too good for me. He's put up with so much. I can't believe that he's still here after everything I've put him through."

"Hey Adrien, come down here," Adam called one afternoon. It was now early June and Adrien had almost completely recovered from her injuries. She still limped and would use a cane when she would have to be on her feet a while. Despite the offer, she wouldn't often let Adam carry her, no matter how much she hurt.

When Adam called, she quickly hurried down the stairs the best she could.

"What is it, Adam?" she asked as soon as she got to the stairs. He was waiting at the bottom for her.

"Look what I have," Adam said as he showed her a letter, but when she reached for it, he held it up above his head where she couldn't reach it.

"Ok, that's not fair. It hurts too much to jump." Adrien whined, and she gave Adam her best puppy dog eyes.

"Then how were you jumping up and down off your horses yesterday?" Adam coyly asked.

"That was yesterday, and it still hurt. I was wanted to ride so badly. But I still couldn't reach it if I jumped," she pleaded, "that's still not fair. Why are you showing it to me if you aren't going to let me see it?"

"I need a kiss first."

She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and reached for the letter that was still above his head.

"I kissed you. Now give it to me," she nagged.

"I need a real kiss." Adam answered.

"Pa, Adam's being mean to me!" Adrien called to Ben who was sitting at the desk.

"Children, be nice to each other," Ben said in a fatherly tone, as he smiled and shook his head.

"You have to kiss me," Adam smirked.

"I did," Adrien retorted.

"That was a sorry excuse for a kiss."

"Then show me a good one," Adrien challenged.

"Alright, if I must."

Adam grabbed her and took her in his arms, leaned her back, and gave her a good long kiss. After a few moments, he let go and sat her back up.

"I'm sorry, but if that's what you want then you're out of luck," Adrien fired.

"And why is that?" Adam asked, an ornery smile on his face.

"I can't throw you around the way you did me," she fired back.

"Fine," Adam said waving the letter in front of her, "I guess I can go up to my room and read this by myself."

He ran up the stairs to his room with Adrien following right behind him.

He ran through the door of his room and made the attempt to close it, but Adrien got her foot in the door before he could.

"So, what do I have to do to get in there?" Adrien laughed.

"Hmm…let's see," Adam quipped, "I tried to get you to kiss me and you won't do that. I guess I'm just going to have to steal myself a few of them." He grabbed her by the waist, picked her up and pulled her into the room. He kissed her over and over. Before they knew it, they were sitting on Adam's bed, about to get too carried away.

"Adam," Adrien whispered, "we need to stop." Adam looked up at her. By the look on his face, she could tell that her words cut him deeper that he wanted to let on. He sat up at the edge of the bed and put his head in his hands.

"Adrien, I'm sorry, but I about can't take this anymore." The frustration could be heard in his voice.

"Adam," Adrien said with much seriousness, "I know this is hard…"

"You have no idea how hard it is."

"Adam," she chastised.

"Sorry."

"As I was saying," she continued sternly, "I know this is hard. It's hard for me too. Do you think that I've just forgotten about how wonderful it is to be with you? Adam, I haven't." She laid her head on his shoulder. "But we went a lot further than we should have before, and we paid the price for it."

"I know we have, Adrien, but every day, I touch you. I kiss you. I hold you, and I just can't help it. I want you."

"And does it ever cross your mind that I might want the same thing?"

"Sometimes," Adam answered honestly, "and then there are others that I wonder if you just like to torture me."

"I'm sorry, dear, I don't mean to torture you. But I'm glad that we have behaved ourselves so far. We have actually spent our time getting to know each other. I love you more now than I ever did before, and our wedding night will be so much more magical because we love each other so much more now than we did before."

"I know, I know." Adam said looking at up at her, "It's just so hard when you are right here."

"Well, I can fix that. I'm well enough to go home now. I can take care of myself."

"Yes, but your house isn't."

"What?"

"The night of the fire, the miners went on a little rampage and all the windows are broken out of your house. They burned the barn down and part of the house is burned.

"What about Buttons, and the cat?" Adrien asked.

"They're fine. Buttons in the barn with the other milk cows and the cat is still running around your place. I brought all your clothes and stuff here. It's all in the guest room downstairs."

"Thank you, but I'd really rather go home. I've imposed on your father too long."

"Yes," Adam answered, "I've been meaning to get around to it, but I still get nervous leaving you alone, so I haven't done it yet."

"That's alright, we can do it together now." Adrien put her arm across Adam's shoulders.

"Not right now, we can't." Adam answered.

"Why?" Adrien asked extremely confused.

"Read the letter," Adam said handing her the letter.

"It's from John," Adrien said ecstatically. She took out the letter and read it. "He and Jessica are finally getting married!"

"Yes, they are, in four weeks."

"I have to go."

"Yes, we have to."

"Why did you say we?"

"Keep reading." She kept going.

"Oh, goodness! Jess wants me to be her maid of honor, and John wants you to be best man!" Adrien exclaimed.

"Yes, that means we need to leave in 4 days."

"Why in 4 days? It doesn't take that long to get to Virginia."

"I think it's about time we both take a look at Colorado Springs again."

"We need to send them a telegraph and let them know we're coming."

"Already done," Adam said getting up off the bed and sitting back down at his desk.

"How are we going to do this, Adam?" Adrien asked, concern suddenly coming over her face.

"It's like you said, self-control, dear, self-control." Adam answered.

"Do you actually think a trip like this is wise?" Adrien asked.

"What else are we going to do?" Adam asked, "There's no sense in not traveling together. We have the same destination. We'll just have to be careful and avoid these situations at all cost."

"Oh boy," Adrien said sighing nervously, "this is going to be interesting."