Jessica woke to the faint beeping of monitors in the background. She noticed the IV stuck in her arm and the uncomfortable hospital bed she was laying on. She tried feeling around to regain her senses but she was too groggy.

"Hello Mrs Fletcher." She heard someone call. Her eyes focused a little bit more and she saw the nurse that had been tending to Seth and now apparently her.

"How do you feel?"

"What happened?" Jessica didn't even answer the question.

"You just got out of surgery Mrs Fletcher. We had to remove the bullet from your leg." Hearing that brought back the memory of lying on the floor with the killer lying next to her. Floyd and Andy rushing into the room to find them. The pain she felt in her leg, the ride to the hospital which had been anything but pleasurable. She had been so delirious because of the pain. The gun had jerked away from her heart at the last second due to the killer being shot in the back, twice. Jessica winced in pain again.

"You were shot in your femoral artery which is why it's causing you this much pain. She looked over to the side before she recognized who was in the bed next to her.

"Seth." She groggily called out.

"Doc Hazlitt is stable but I think it will be quite a while before a major change in condition. I suggest getting some sleep. If you need something just call." She said with a light smile.

"What is your name again?"

"Oh how rude of me! I'm sorry Mrs Fletcher, my name is Nurse Lily. Just call me Lily."

"Thank you, Lily, very much." Jessica told her before she walked out of the room.

A couple of hours later she found her eyes fluttering open again. Slowly coming into view was a man sitting at her bedside.

"Mrs. F?" He asked. She automatically recognized it to be Mort.

"Mort." She said with a faint smile creeping to her face.

"Hello Mrs F. How are you feeling?"

"Oh better than when Andy and Floyd got to me. At least I have the bullet out of my leg now. And….frankly putting it," she paused and sighed as she felt a tear forming in her eye. "I'm a lot better off than Seth right now. I want so badly to switch places with him." She looked over at Seth.

Mort looked down at his shoes momentarily.

"I know. But…I don't think the doc would want to. He stepped in front of that gun to save your life. One of the hardest things in the world is having to watch someone you love so much go through so much suffering and all you can do is sit there and watch. You can't do a damn thing about it." He paused. "Jessica, Seth knows that and I don't think he wanted to see you go through all that pain. He wanted to be the first to try and go through it for you."

Jessica looked up at the ceiling, swallowing a lump in her throat and holding back her tears. She quickly cleared her throat and regained her composure to slightly change the subject.

"So. Uh, What happened to the woman who shot me?" She asked.

"She was shot twice in the back, she didn't survive. One lodged into her spine while the other went through her heart. She died almost instantly."

"I see." They both paused. "You know Mort, I recognized her voice but for the life of me, I can't place it."

"That would probably be because she was one of the paramedics that arrived on the scene last night."

"So that's why I didn't have to call an ambulance, they just came rushing."

"More than likely. She didn't mean to hit him, she was after you. Nonetheless we got her and you're safe now."

"Maybe so." She answered doubtfully.

"What is it Mrs F?"

"There's just one thing that bothers me, Mort. When she approached me at my front door, I asked what she wanted and she said that she personally didn't want anything of me. She also said that she was sent there meaning,"

"She was a hired killer and the real one is still on the loose."

"Exactly!"

"Alright I'm having you and the doc kept under a 24 hour guard stationed right outside this room. Andy and Floyd will trade off every couple of hours. I'll go search her house for some kind of a pay off."

Mort waited for Andy to show up and guard the hospital room. Jessica slightly winced at the pain as she turned on her side and looked at Seth's practically lifeless body.

"Seth." She said to know one in particular although a small part of her mind hoped for and half expected an answer. However when he didn't respond she just let out a sigh. "I love you." She said quietly. "Please come back. For me?"

"Please Seth." She started to cry.

"Please! God please don't take him away!" She cried.

As tears flowed down her own cheek, a single tear escaped Seth's eye and slowly slid down his face.