Author's Note: As if by divine inspiration I have figured out a sequel to this story but I can't start it until I finish this so I plan on updating as often as I can (probably almost every weekday).

Love, Home, Hurt

Chapter 15

Mac couldn't believe what she was hearing. The person she truly loved, the one who gave up his job to find her in Paraguay, the person who comforted her after she was forced to kill Sadik, the one who had promised her that in five years they would have a baby together if neither of them were in a serious relationship, was her last hope. She tried to take all this in but it felt like she had too many case folders and too few filing cabinets, it was overwhelming.

She wanted to stay with Harm and she wanted to marry him and she wished that she could rewind the last year but she couldn't. Harm must have wanted her to have his kidney if he got tested to see if he was a match.

"Harm are you sure you want to do this?" Mac asked even though the answer was pretty obvious. His eyes where pleading with her to accept the kidney.

"Yes Mac, I'm sure," Harm said.

"Then I'll accept it," Mac said. "You just have to be sure that this is what you want."

"What I want Mac," Harm began, "Is for you to live so that we can start a life together and that I can help you move on."

"Okay," Mac said. "Let's get Dr. York to schedule the transplant."

"Dr. York!" Harm called through the intercom. "Can you please come into Colonel Mackenzie's room please?"

"I'll be right there Commander," Dr. York responded. A few minutes went by and Dr. York entered Mac's room. "I assume that you found a solution to the Colonel's need for a kidney?"

"Yes," Mac said. "Test results show that Harm is the most compatible match for me and I've decided to accept his kidney."

"When can we schedule the surgery?" Harm asked.

"I have a spot open at eight tonight if you want to get it over with," Dr. York said. "I'd advise you to do so otherwise the Colonel's kidneys may not hold up for that long."

Harm and Mac looked at each other. Mac could see that Harm didn't want her to die and Harm could see that Mac didn't want to die. In there heads they both knew there was no other choice.

"Okay, we'll take it," Mac said.

"All right, I'll schedule it and come eight tonight the Colonel will have a new kidney," Dr. York said.

The doctor left and Mac turned to Harm. "Thank you," Mac muttered.

"For what?" Harm asked.

"For giving me another chance at life," Mac said as she took Harm's hand. "I love you."

"I love you too, Mac. I always have but every time I think we're about to make progress on our relationship something else gets in the way. Your relationship with Dalton, your engagement to Mic, your marriage to Webb, there never seemed to be an opening for us to expand our relationship."

"I know but after the trial there will be time for all of that," Mac said. "I don't plan on losing this case."

There was silence in the air. Harm wanted to kiss her but legally she was still married and he didn't want anyone from the defense to possibly find out that they may have shared a kiss and give them grounds to bring Mac up to be a cheating wife. Harm decided against it and in his heart yearned for the trial to go off without a hitch.

&%#$

"Good luck Sarah," Uncle Matt said as a team of nurses wheeled his niece down the hallway to pre-op. "You know that I love you, right?"

"Right," Mac said. "Will you be there when I wake up?"

"I will," Uncle Matt said. "But concentrate on getting back to that sailor of yours. He really love you Sarah, I can tell."

"How can you tell?" Mac asked.

"The way he was looking at you when you came to find me in Red Rock Mesa," Uncle Matt said. "He cares about you and before he went into surgery he told me that he loves you and that he can't imagine not spending the rest of his life with you."

"Thanks for telling me Uncle Matt," Mac responded as they reached the pre- op doors.

"I'm sorry sir," the nurse told her uncle. "This is where you two ways for a while."

"Okay," Uncle Matt told her. "Good luck ninja-girl and remember that sailor loves you."

"I'll remember," Mac said as the nurses began pushing the stretcher through the pre-op doors. "I'll see you later Uncle Matt."

With that Mac disappeared through the pre-op doors.

%#

"Okay Colonel," the doctor said after the anesthesia was administered. "I want you to count backwards slowly from ten."

"Okay," Mac said. "Ten...nine...eight...seven...six...five..." Before Mac reached one she was asleep on the operating table.

"Okay," the doctor said. "Let's get the Colonel a new kidney."

#!$

Author's Note: Okay Mac has agreed to the surgery and she's asleep on the operating table so...what happens next? To find out hit the lilac button and review.