For the moment, Jim gave up on trying to get Sally to confirm that she and Pete were engaged. She was ignoring his subtle questioning. He thought that he might distract her with a charming Jimmy story.

"I was watching Jimmy the other day while Jean went shopping. There was this great ball game on so I let Jimmy play in his room; or so I thought." Jim gave her this sheepish grin and shrugged his shoulders. "Anyway, I was eating cheese puffs and Jimmy kept coming out to take one and run back down the hall. I didn't really pay attention to how many he was taking…."

"Please tell me that you didn't let him get sick on cheese puffs." Sally knew from experience that both Jim and Pete could ignore a barking Great Dane, if the ball game was exciting enough.

"Worse…Jimmy wasn't eating them as much as stashing them away." Sally started laughing; she had an idea where this story was going. "Jean collects any coins I leave laying around the house and puts them in one of those big water cooler jugs. Every couple of days she will open her closet and put the coins into the jug." Jim paused, silently wishing that he could blame Jimmy's latest escapade on anyone but himself. "I kept telling her to not put water in the jug, but she said that it discouraged theft. What it didn't discourage was Jimmy stuffing cheese puffs in with the coins!"

"Oh no! I hope it wasn't too many puffs." Sally snuck a glance at the still sleeping Pete, who knew all about Jean's jug of water that was "crying out" for something to be floating in it.

"There were five inches of soggy cheese puffs on top of the coins. It took me hours to clean that mess up. Plus I found marbles mixed in with the coins in the bottle. Jim nodded towards Pete. "Unlike spitting and learning the S-word, I can't blame this one on Pete."

Sally decided that it was a stroke of luck that Pete wasn't awake to try and deny any involvement in Jimmy's latest caper. She would be sure to tell him later, once Jim was gone.

O~O~O

Sergeant MacDonald arrived at Pete's room as the hospital PA system announced the end of visiting hours. Wearing comfortable clothing - blue jeans, a check pattern flannel shirt,cowboy boots - Mac was ready to spend the night. He handed Sally a cup of coffee and kept the other one he had brought.

"Sorry Jim. I didn't bring you one. If you want some coffee, I'll stay with Sally while you go down to the cafeteria to get yourself a cup." Mac took a preventive gulp from his own coffee; insuring that Jim wouldn't want it.

"I'm good. They brought Pete some with his dinner." Jim motioned to the empty plate, coffee mug and Jello container on the bedside tray. "It was going to go to waste otherwise."

"That's assuming that he won't want his food when he wakes up." Sally chimed in; busting Jim could be fun.

"Isn't stealing Pete's food a capital offense?" Mac's attempt at being stern was failing miserably. He stepped closer to the bed. "How'd the operation go?" The way Pete's shoulder was trussed up and strapped down was somewhat worrying.

"He's fine Mac. Doctor Torrens was able to repair the rotator cuff. It will take time, but if he works hard enough at physical therapy, he'll get back full use of his arm." Sally's answer brought a smile to Mac's face. Until that second, he hadn't been able to shake the fear that he had worked his last shift with Pete.

The three of them spent the next four hours in quiet conversation; no one wanted to wake Pete up. Every half hour or so, Jim went fishing for information on Sally and Pete.

"Are you sure Pete didn't say anything to you today?" This time his target was Mac, who had mentioned seeing Pete earlier in the day.

"I told you Jim, he didn't say much and what he did say wasn't exactly coherent. Why do you keep asking Sally or me about what Pete might have told us?" There was a gruff tone to his question; sergeants aren't fond of having to repeat themselves.

"I…he, ah…said something to me, I think." Jim was answering Mac, but he turned his gaze toward Sally. Should he come out and ask her? Sally's smile said it all; she knew what Pete told Jim and she wasn't going to spill the beans.

"Hey Jim, why don't you tell Mac about Jimmy and the cheese puffs?" Sally actually laughed harder this time because she didn't have to pretend that she didn't already know about Jean's coin jug. By the end Mac was laughing and Jim's ears had turned beet red. Unseen by Jim, Mac arched a brow, with a nod towards Pete. The question was obvious; Mac was almost positive that his sleeping friend had something to do with Jimmy's caper. Sally shrugged her shoulders. The gesture suggested that she didn't know if Pete did it, but there was a spark of mischief in her eyes.

O~O~O

Mac's stomach continued to grumble. An hour ago Jim and Sally had finally decided to go down to the cafeteria for some coffee and a bite to eat, having promised to bring something back for Mac. It was now close to four in the morning and he was quickly losing patience. His decision to go look in the hallway for a random nurse to keep an eye on Pete for him, didn't go so well. After sitting in the same chair for hours Mac's left leg had fallen asleep; making his standing up slightly difficult. Mac grabbed the bed rail in order to get his balance. Whether it was the noise or the shaking of the bed, it woke Pete up.

Pete shook his head and opened his eyes. It took him a few seconds to spot MacDonald in the darkened room, but he did see him. "Mac?"

"I'm here, sorry I woke you. Go back to sleep." It wasn't that he didn't want to talk to Pete; it was more in the line of not wanting Sally to chastise him for waking up his friend.

"No, not yet. Would you mind getting me some water?" Pete cleared his throat; a dry mouth was the result of the anesthesia they used to knock him out. Mac poured him a glass of water, stuck a straw in it and held it out to Pete. They barely managed to not spill it all over the bed since Pete's hand was shaking. Despite hating to be fussed over, Pete let Mac hold the glass while he drank.

"Thanks. What time is it?" He had no idea how long ago the operation was, but he could see the moonlight lighting the room.

"It's almost four. How's the shoulder?" Mac gave a brief thought to calling the nurse to give Pete pain medication, but decided to wait to see it he needed it.

"You tell me." Pete was looking down at his left shoulder. It was impossible to move as the doctor had pinned his arm down tight. Doctor Torrens didn't want to take the chance that Pete would damage his arm by moving it.

"It's okay, Pete. Your doctor was able to repair the rotator cuff." The meaning wasn't lost on Mac when Pete leaned his head back, closed his eyes and sighed. Although Pete kept saying that he was willing to deal with the result of his actions that sigh showed how much he feared losing the full use of his arm. They both knew that he wouldn't be able to return to work if the operation went bad. "You are going to have to work hard to get it back in shape and I'll kick your butt if you don't."

"I'd like to see you try." Both men laughed; what's a little bravado between friends? "Where's Sally? I expected both of you to be watching over me tonight."

"Jim and Sally went downstairs to get something to eat." Mac took a quick look around to make sure they weren't coming back yet before he asked the question. "What Is Jim trying to get Sally to say?"

"I don't know Mac. I've been out of it most of the day." He knew exactly what Jim wanted Sally to tell him, but he wasn't giving up that tidbit of information so easily.

"Uh huh," Pete's old partner smiled when Pete wouldn't look at him as he denied knowing what Jim wanted to know. "So, when did you and Sally get engaged?"

"What day is it?" He wasn't trying to stall answering Mac Donald, it was an actual question; time has been getting away from him after so many days stuck in a hospital room.

"It's Friday morning." Mac stood at the foot of the bed, forcing Pete to look right at him. He also added that "sergeant" tone of voice that demanded an answer. "Spill it."

"It was Wednesday night, after visiting hours were over." Pete's smile seemed genuine, but Mac wondered why propose now?

"I'm happy for you Pete. I'll admit that I never thought you would ever take that last step with anyone." Since the day they met ten years ago, their friendship was based on honesty; now wasn't the time to keep his hesitations to himself. "Are you sure that this is what you want and not the result of your shooting?"

"Almost dying did play into it Mac, but not for the reason you might be thinking." Pete paused, this time managing to drink water without Mac's assistance. "My thoughts were going this way before I got shot. We've been practically living together for a while now." How to explain it? "Being with Sally feels right; we're both better people and stronger inside because we're together. I never found that in the other women I've dated. Plus, she makes me laugh."

"I understand that. My question is still the same. You asked her before the surgery. The last time we talked about this, you weren't sure if you should ask her before you knew what life would be like if you couldn't return to work. What changed your mind?" Mac's questions weren't meant so much for his information, but to make sure that Pete had fully thought this move out.

"My encounter with Tony Johnson brought into focus my hesitation to commit and what that cost me. I lost years with Sally and almost lost our future together. So yes, it made me realize how stupid I was for not asking her to marry me before now." Pete took time to grab another sip of water." Sally and I talked about it and we decided to face whatever happens together." Pete wasn't bothered by the questions simply because Mac was the only person, aside from his father, who would dare to ask them. He asked them out of deep concern for his former partner, who had become so much more than a friend.

"Okay then, congratulations to you both. Can I tell Mary about this or do you want to tell her and the kids? Why isn't Jim sure you told him about this? You did tell him, right?" Mac knew there had to be a good reason for Jim's confusion. After a little more prodding, Pete told him what he did to Jim; a move that Mac laughingly said was cruel.

"I don't care if you tell Mary and the kids, but can you keep it secret for a while?" It was a hard question for Mac because he wanted so much to spread the word; the Strawberry Fox finally got caught. Pete saw the hesitation in his old friend. "We're not planning on getting married for probably a year."

"Why wait so long? You aren't planning on a big wedding, are you?"

"No, it will be mostly family and a few close friends." Pete knew that Sally would marry him today, in this room, but he saw the look in her eyes at her niece's wedding. Sally had once told him that it was her dream to be married in that chapel; he wanted to give her that. Admitting that would be more sentimental than Pete was willing to be. There was one other, non-sentimental excuse for Pete and Sally to wait. He was sure that Mac would understand that.

"Sally is old fashioned. She would like her husband to be able to walk her back up the aisle, dance at the reception and participate in all post-reception gymnastics."

A/N The cheese puff incident really happened. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.