"Oh, Hmm," Max groaned, as pain radiated through her gut. "Kenny…."

"That wasn't a happy moan," Kenny replied weakly, pulling reluctantly away from her and seeing her wince.

"No, I'm okay," she gasped, wrapping her arms around herself. "Give me a minute."

Kenny held her close, as she rode out the pain. Sucking in her breath, she buried her head in his broad chest. Kenny ran his hand down her back, and not wanting to cause her anymore hurt.

"That took me by surprise," Max said with a weak smile, her mind still spinning. "All of it."

Kenny smoothed back her growing out hair, and she leaned up against him. "Shit, Max. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I'm fine really," she insisted, seeing the guilt all over his face. "I guess I'm going to be sore for awhile."

"You sure?"

"Kenny, don't worry about it," Max cried, not wanting him to feel badly. "And I like having you hold me. And kiss me."

He dropped a kiss on her forehead, happy to just hold her again. "We're supposed to be taking this slow? Right?"

"We took it slowly for five years," Max replied devilishly. "I don't think a little while longer would hurt. Physically, we don't really have a choice."

"I want you," Kenny blurted out, not being able to stop himself.

"I want you too," Max replied, turning to look up at him, swallowing she continued. "Oh, hell. Just kiss me again."

Their faces were inches apart, and Max could smell the onions on his breath from the pizza. Kenny very softly cupped her face in his hands, as she wrapped her arms around him. Very slowly, he leaned in and brushed her lips against hers, and going against all his natural instincts, pulled away. Max leaned his head against his shoulder, and they just sat there.

"Slow, right?"

"Yeah," Max replied, wanting to rip his clothes off. "Slow. Slow. I'll just have to keep repeating it to myself." Kenny dropped another kiss on top of her head, as she continued. "Kenny? I, I never thanked you, did I? For all of this?"

"All of what?"

"Being here. Staying with me in the hospital? Just being my friend, even when I was awful to you," Max said shyly.

"You weren't ever awful. And I stayed because I care about you, and, well, I just wanted to be with you," Kenny said. "Listen Max, we both said and did some stupid things. You've been the one constant in my life, and even when I was pissed at you, I know that you would stick by me. I still can't believe you destroyed those tapes."

"Max, wait up."

"What?"

"Why'd you do it?" Kenny asked.

"I went to see Sherry, she told me the whole story," Max replied.

"Destroying evidence is a felony, Max," Kenny said, trying to keep his voice even.

"I know."

"You did that for me?" he asked in disbelief.

"We've been friends along time Kenny," Max sighed. "And I wasn't about to watch you destroy yourself."

"Are we still friends?"

"I don't know," Max said quietly.

"Partners?"

"Okay."

"I'd do it again," Max said quietly. "It was a way, at least trying, to make amends."

"Well, I never thanked you for that. If those tapes ever got out, I don't know where I'd be."

"You've thanked me. This past month, you've gone above and beyond friendship," Max said pausing. "I was so jealous that you found someone so fast."

"I wanted her to be you, I used to close my eyes and pretend," Kenny admitted, looking away. "Stupid, isn't it? She was a hooker."

"Well, I've been celibate for the last eight months," Max replied. "I'm not sure what that means."

"What about the guy you met on-line?" Kenny asked. "You seemed excited about him."

Groaning inwardly. "If you laugh when I tell you this, I'll, I guess I can't do too much now. He, god, Kenny, he was a cross dresser. He showed up to take me out wearing a dress, heels and more make-up then me."

Willing himself to not laugh because, despite her injuries, he was sure that Max could still throw a quick punch, he said evenly. "Well then. You do know how to pick them."

"I know you want to laugh," Max said, looking up at him.

"Not going too," he said restraining himself. "You have a mean right hook."

"Me? The woman who just got out of the hospital," Max teased, feeling incredibly comfortable with him. "Right."

"It's getting late. Don't you want to go to sleep? I can't take much more of this."

"More of what?"

"Sitting here with you, and not taking you on the floor."

"That's a line if I ever heard one. After eight months of celibacy, I should take you up on that," Max said. "But as we already figured out, that might cause another trip to the hospital."

Kenny looked down at her, and smiled. I love her, he thought, I want her right now. "C'mon, you've had a long day."

2222222222222

Max sunk back against the pillows, and was grateful to feel the coolness of her own sheets after the industrial feel of the hospital bed.

"Do you need anything? Water, another pillow, anything," Kenny asked anxiously, hovering above her.

Max bit her lip, and tried not to laugh. It wasn't like him to treat her, or anyone, like this. And it wasn't like her to let someone take care of her, maybe we're both changing, Max thought to herself. Letting our guard down some.

"No, it does feel good to be back in my own bed though," Max said.

"Okay," Kenny began, not wanting to leave her. "Hey, you're going to be alright here? It's your first night with no one around and stuff."

Max swallowed, wanting him to wrap his arms around her. "Of course."

"Okay then," Kenny said. "If your sure."

Max buried the fear that was bubbling up inside her because she was nervous about being alone. After all, she had been surrounded by people for a month, and the thought of being alone at night left her unsettled.

"Stay," she blurted out. "Please stay."

Kenny sat down on the side of the bed. "Sh. Hey, I've sat by your bed a lot this past month."

"Thanks, I'm," Max trailed off.

"I know," Kenny said. "Lie back, I'm not going anywhere."

22222222222222

"Hello again," Howard Buss called, as Max met him in the golden cathedral.

"Howard," she said, feeling a sense of peace as they met again. "I'm not in a coma again? Am I?"

Howard shook his head. "I just wanted to see how you were. No regrets?"

"No," Max said. "Things are going well. Kenny and I, we're going to work things out. I can feel it."

"That is good news," Howard cried. "But I want to warn you about some things. You might not remember, but we have a special connection now. I have to tell you."

"You're scaring me," Max whispered, at his proclamation.

"Listen carefully; a murder is going to happen soon. It can't be stopped, but it will affect everybody."

"Who?" Max asked, as he began to fade. "Howard!"

22222222222222222222

Max woke up with a jerk in the darkness of her bedroom, and wiped the sweat from her brow. A memory danced around the edge of her mind, but she couldn't get a clear picture of what it was.

"Max?" Kenny asked, his voice filled with sleep. "You awake?"

"Yeah," she said. "I had the weirdest dream, but I can't really remember what it was about."

"Hmm."

Max leaned back against his chest, and he tightened his arms around her. "Shh. Go back to sleep, it was nothing."

2222222222222

"So, how am I?" Max asked Jill, a couple days later, at her office.

Jill glanced at her young friend. Too thin, she thought, pale, but healing. "The x-rays showed that everything is healing properly, and that there wasn't any permanent damage. How do you feel? Any pain?"

"Once in a while, when a move the wrong way. Like when I get up to fast, or," she trailed off thinking about when Kenny kissed her on her first night home. "I don't know, it isn't happening as much as time goes by."

"Well, it shouldn't," Jill agreed, putting down her chart. "I want you to rest for another few days, and then you should be able to go back to work. Desk work only for awhile, and we'll see from there."

"Really?" Max grinned. The thought of getting back to work, and to her life was highly appealing. "That would be great. I'm getting stir crazy, and becoming addicted to soap operas. I would love to be a functioning member of society again."

"Soon. Go ahead and get dressed," Jill said. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

Discarding the paper robe, Max pulled on her red tank and jeans. Glancing in the mirror, she thought at least I look a little better. All that food Kenny's been bringing every night, at least I don't look half dead anymore. She smoothed back her hair, happy about how it covered her ears now, and how the platinum was fading out to sort of a strawberry blond color. She slid her feet into her flip flops, and leaned back against the examining table.

"Are you decent?" called Jill from the door.

"C'mon in," Max called back.

"So," Jill said slowly, not wanting to pry. "I hear that you and Kenny have been spending a lot of time together lately."

Shrugging, Max replied. "We're working things out, and I think everything will be okay."

"He was worried about you," Jill said. "No one could pry him from your side."

"We have a lot of history," Max said quietly, not sure she was ready to delve into all of it. "No one, not even my family, understands me the way he does. He knows how to push all my buttons, which isn't always a good thing, but something just clicks when we're together. We've both seen each other through, well everything in the last seven years. I love him, even after everything that happened this year."

"Be happy. Both of you," Jill said patting her hand. "I know you both quite well, don't that your stubborn fears get in the way."

"That's what we're working on."

"Go on. Take it easy for a few more days," Jill said. "I want to check you out one more time before I send you back to work, so come back in on, how about Wednesday?"

"I'm sure my schedules open, I'll see you then."

2222222222222

Max pulled her jeep onto the side of the road when she saw the same red sedan that was there when she drove over to Jill's office. Pulling closer, she could make out a figure on the drivers side. Squinting, she couldn't see anyone else, and the figure wasn't moving.

"Shit," she said, opening the door, her brain kicking into cop mode. Noting the lack of traffic, she made her way slowly to the other car. Her stomach clenched with nerves, and a strange feeling of dread coming over her, she knocked on the window.

"Hey, are you okay?" she called through the glass, and getting no response. "Hello? Can you hear me?"

Max glanced through the window, and saw that the woman was slumped to the side, and blood was running down her neck, clumping in her blond hair. She sucked in her breath, and backed away from the car. Running back to her jeep she reached for her cell phone.

"Shit, Max," she said to herself. "How do you get into these situations? Can't even take advantage of your own medical leave."

Glancing back towards the other car, she dialed the sheriff's station.

2222222222222

Max heard the sirens before she saw the squad cars. Eyes closed, she tried to block the sight of the dead woman from her thoughts. Something was familiar about her, but she couldn't put her finger on it. A brief image flashed in her mind, but quickly faded. She rubbed her face, trying to clear her head. Glancing at the sedan again, Max felt dread and knew that this was something big. Here we go she thought, as the squad cars pulled up. Kenny is going to strangle me for getting involved in this, and not be lying on the couch, letting myself heal.

"Max," Jimmy called walking towards her. "What's going on here? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she said a lot more confidently then she felt. "I was driving home from my check up, and this car was here. I saw it on my way, but that was a two hours ago. I stopped because I didn't think that anyone would just sit here for two hours. There's a woman inside, she's not moving and there's blood."

"Any sign of foul play?"

"I didn't want to touch anything, so I didn't look," Max said, "But nothing has been moved, and the door lock were up."

"Did you see anything, anyone?"

"No. Barely anyone drives these back roads," she said, as the other squad car pulled up.

Kenny and Skeeter walked towards her, and she could see the concern in Kenny's eyes that he was trying to keep hidden while at work. He needs to stop worrying about me.

"You can't stay out of trouble, can you," Skeeter said with a grim smile and he gestured towards the car.

"Guess not."

"You okay?" Kenny asked evenly as Jimmy went to check out the car, and Skeeter radioed Carter Pike to bring his team out, he lowered his voice. "Shit, Max. When Jimmy said that you called about a dead body….. What are you doing out here, alone?"

"Coming home from seeing Jill, I had a check up," Max said feeling annoyed at him for his coddling. "I'm not a child, I can go outside alone. I'm not going to break, Kenny, okay? You know me better than that."

He stared at her for a moment, not wanting to push her more then he had been. "Sorry for worrying."

Groaning inwardly, and not wanting to push him away. "This isn't the time to talk. I have a bad feeling about this one."

"Kenny," Jimmy called waving him over.

Max squeezed his hand. "Go ahead, you have a job to do. I'll wait over here."

She leaned up against her jeep, and watched as Kenny and Jimmy dusted the car for prints, and open the door. Cringing just a bit, she saw them step back after opening the door, and then the smell hit her. Rotting human flesh and Max swallowed back her desire to vomit. Jimmy closed the car door, and waved her over. Reluctantly she walked over to the three men.

"Did you get a good look at her?" Jimmy asked quietly.

Max shook her head. "I saw that she was dead, and I back away pretty quickly too call it in. She seems familiar though, I can't put my finger on it. I didn't look at her face."

Jimmy sighed, looking his pale, thin, and still recovering deputy over. Keep her out of it, he thought, she shouldn't be here. "We're going to wait for Carter to make a positive id. She's been dead for awhile, by the smell."

Max nodded, grateful to be doing something besides sitting on the couch. "Do you have any idea who she is?"

"I want to wait to make a positive id," Jimmy repeated neutrally glancing at Kenny and Skeeter. "You're right, she looks familiar, the plates are gone, or we'd run them now."

Carter pulled up then, and rushed towards them. "What's going on here? Is she dead?"

"Looks that way," Jimmy said. "Take her to the morgue."

"Autopsy?" Carter asked.

"Yes, I want to know how this woman died. There's no id in the car, no prints, and the face is obliterated. Max is right, she seems familiar."

"I thought you were on medical leave," Carter said, pulling on his gloves. "Can't stay away from the action."

"It seems to follow me," Max said looking away from the body in the car, and wrapping her arms around herself.

Carter opened the door, and his team began the process of removing the body, and Max caught a fleeting glance of the woman without a face. Grimacing, and again burying the urge to vomit, she followed the others back to the squad cars.

"I want an official statement from you," Jimmy told her.

"Not a problem," Max said evenly.

She watched as Kenny and Skeeter marked the scene, and others arrived to begin the investigation. Carter loaded the body into the van, and Max felt oddly out of place. She leaned back against her jeep, knowing that no one would let her do anything, but she couldn't bring herself to leave. Something didn't feel right about this, and she didn't want to leave until everything was done.

"Max," Kenny said, as the car was towed away. "C'mon, you can go. We're done here."

"I know," she said. "Something doesn't feel right. Maybe I'm just crazy."

They stood in the gathering darkness, as most of the other squad cars left, leaving them, Jimmy and Skeeter. Kenny wrapped one arm around her waist, and pulled her closer to him. She leaned her head on his shoulder, and drew comfort from his closeness. Images of the faceless woman rose to her conscious mind, and she willed herself not to think of it. Her dreams were strange enough as it was.

Jimmy wandered over and pointed to her. "You. Go home. I know you're supposed to be resting. Kenny, follow her, make sure she gets there safely. Max, lock your doors, I'm going to send a car by to make sure everything is okay."

"I'll be fine," she groaned. "I think I can take care of myself."

"Humor them," Skeeter said rolling his eyes at her.

Max nodded, and climbed into her jeep. She drove back to her apartment, and Kenny pulled up behind her. Climbing down from her jeep, she watched the last of the light disappear from the sky. Kenny held his hand out to her, and they walked silently into her place.

"I'm going to make sure no one's here," he said. "Wait here."

Rolling her eyes at his departing bulk, she flipped through her mail. Like I'm two years old, she thought, but finding his concern sweet. Kenny was many things, but not sweet, Max reasoned, so it was nice to see that.

"All clear?" she asked when he reappeared.

"Yeah, thought it would be," he said pulling her close to him and pressing his lips to hers. "Max, I wish I could stay, but…"

"I wish you could too," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck, and kissing him softly. "But this is Rome. A dead body equals high drama here. Go, find out what happened."

"Love you," he said kissing her again. God, I want to stay here with her. "Lock your doors. I'll be back when we're finished."

Max waved as he walked out to the car, and locked the door behind her. A shiver ran down her spine as she thought of the body.

"God, she seemed familiar." Max said aloud to herself, and thought back to the scene. "Nothing."

Flipping on the television, she settled in for a night of reruns while her friends worked to find out he killed the faceless blond haired woman.