Chapter 2

AN1: Takes place after the original hospital visit in the episode.
AN2: I'm overwhelmed by all the feedback, thanks everyone. I appreciate it!

"Visiting hours are over ma'am," said the Lieutenant behind the nurse's desk.

"I'm here to see Commander Rabb. It's important," said Mac.

"Ma'am, it's after visiting hours, you can come back in the morning," said the Lieutenant.

"Lieutenant, I don't want to pull rank but I will if I have to. I won't be long, but I do need to see the Commander," said Mac authoritatively.

"Yes ma'am," said the Lieutenant.

Harm's hospital room

"Mac," said Harm hoarsely as she entered the room.

"Hi, how are you?" said Mac, sitting down in the chair beside his hospital bed.

"Fine," replied Harm.

"Good," said Mac.

"What's wrong?" asked Harm, looking at her.

"Nothing," said Mac.

"What did you tell them at the desk?" asked Harm.

"I intimidated the Lieutenant into letting me come in," said Mac.

"Talk to me Mac," said Harm, worried about the woman that sat before him. There were dark circles under her eyes and she was clearly upset about something. To his surprise, her eyes became wet with tears.

"Hey, what is it?" asked Harm, reaching out to take her hand.

"It's my fault. If you hadn't been trying to come back for the wedding this wouldn't have happened!" said Mac.

"Mac, no, it's not your fault," said Harm.

"It is my fault, there's no way to say that it's not," said Mac.

"Mac, come here," said Harm, indicating that she should sit on the edge of the bed. Mac moved and Harm immediately pulled her towards him, letting her cry on his shoulder.

"It's not your fault. It was an accident, it happens," said Harm comfortingly.

"You don't hate me," said Mac, finally looking at him.

"No, trust me, that's not possible. And you have to stop hating yourself. Please Mac, you shouldn't feel guilty," said Harm, as he stroked her hair.

"Lt. Hawkes…" began Mac, but Harm cut her off.

"She's fine, we both are," he said.

"I'm sorry. I know I'm not behaving like a Marine at all," said Mac.

"That's okay. You don't always need to be the tough Marine. You can be Sarah sometimes too," said Harm, wiping the remainder of her tears away with his thumb.

Mac smiled slightly.

"Do you feel better?" he asked.

"Yeah, I guess I needed to talk to you," said Mac.

"I'm glad you came Mac," said Harm. He started to cough and Mac rubbed his back.

"I've made you talk too much. I'm sorry," said Mac. She poured him a glass of water and handed it to him.

"I'm fine," said Harm. He swallowed the water and soon the coughing fit had eased.

"I'd better let you rest. Thanks for the talk," said Mac.

"I think there's more you aren't telling me," said Harm.

"It doesn't matter," said Mac.

"It does to me. Tell me what's going on," asked Harm.

"It's just Mic. He doesn't understand why I don't want to reschedule right away," said Mac.

"I'll be out of here soon. You can reschedule," said Harm, though he experienced a pain in his chest as he said it that he knew had no physical cause.

"It's complicated," replied Mac.

"Well I'm here if you need to talk," said Harm. He coughed again and Mac laid a hand against his shoulder, pushing him back against his pillows.

"Not now. You need to rest," she said.

Harm let her but quickly pulled Mac down with him so she ended up nestled against him, one of his arms wrapped securely around her.

"What are you doing?" asked Mac, having made no move to stop him.

"Comforting my best friend. Now quiet, I need to rest," said Harm smiling.

Mac chuckled lightly and said nothing, enjoying being close to him.

"Thank you," said Harm after a few minutes of silence had passed.

"What for?" asked Mac.

"Mac, they passed close by a few times but didn't see me. If you hadn't pointed them in the right direction…" said Harm.

"You've already thanked me, but you're welcome," said Mac.

"That's a useful gift you have," remarked Harm.

"I'm just grateful it helped me find you," said Mac.

Several more moments of silence passed and without realising the repercussions that would follow the next morning, both of them fell asleep.

"There better be a damn good explanation for this," said Admiral Chegwidden's voice loudly the next morning. Neither of his officers knew that he had just ordered Renee Peterson, fuming over what she'd seen, to stay out but had allowed himself a few seconds to smile over the situation before making his presence known.

Harm and Mac woke hurriedly and Mac extricated herself from Harm's arms blushing furiously as she stood at attention before AJ. Harm had moved to do the same before being waved off by AJ.

"I'm waiting. And this better be good," said AJ gruffly.

"Sir, it was an accident. I came to see the Commander last night and I guess we fell asleep," said Mac, still blushing.

"I see," said AJ, pacing in front of her.

"Colonel, do you think I was born yesterday?" demanded AJ.

"No sir!" said Mac.

"Sir, this is my fault. You see, Mac..er, I mean the Colonel was upset so we talked for awhile. It was late and we fell asleep," said Harm.

"Commander, I wouldn't add anything if I were you," said AJ.

"Yes sir," said Harm, waiting for the eruption.

"Let's make sure any future visits don't end up the same way. Dismissed!" said AJ.

"Yes sir!" said Mac, gathering her bag while Harm looked relieved.

"I also have to tell you that Ms. Peterson is out there. The only reason she's not here right now is because I got here before she did and ordered her to let me handle this. Apparently I can be quite persuasive, even to civilians," said AJ.

Harm and Mac looked at each other.

"Yes sir," they replied.

"So good luck with that both of you and I'm going to go get some water. I'll be a few minutes," said AJ from behind them, giving them a knowing look and leaving the room.

"You're blushing Colonel," observed Harm.

"It was on the embarrassing side," said Mac.

"I'll agree with you there," said Harm.

"I'd better go. Thanks again," said Mac smiling at him.

"No problem," said Harm with a smile, relieved to see that she looked less tired than she'd looked the previous night.

"I'm sure Renee will have a few well chosen words for me," said Mac.

"Tell her to come in will you? I'll explain things to her. I know that you can hold your own though," said Harm.

"Okay, see you later," said Mac.

Mac looked indecisive for a moment and Harm held his arms out. Mac hugged him and kissed his cheek softly.

"Bye," she said, before leaving the room.

"Bye Mac," said Harm.