Rhett Butler awoke slowly, trying to figure out which hurt more, his head or his shoulder. Everything was coming back to him. Scarlett was furious, so she shot him. Shot by his own wife. Rhett couldn't help but laugh at this. There were very few people who could say they even pulled a gun on Rhett Butler and fewer still that could say they actually got the chance to fire. The laughing made his head hurt even more and he slowly pieced the last few moments together.

Scarlett had shot twice, missed once but hit him square in his left shoulder, which propelled him into the nightstand head first. That must have been what knocked him out, and would explain the intense headache. He had to laugh again. Right before she shot him, Rhett saw that look in Scarlett's eyes that he had seen only once, the moment he'd fallen in love with her.

Scarlett and Rhett had always fought; he'd seen her temper flare more than he'd liked, but he'd never seen that fire in her eyes burn quite as brightly as it had when she'd fought with Ashley in the library…not until today. The passion, fire, hurt and fury in Scarlett's eyes were brighter than at any point in her life. There was raw emotion there that could not be faked.

Rhett began to remember many different scenes he and Scarlett had been in together, but one really made him laugh.

"I can shoot straight if I don't have to shoot too far."

He laughed even more from this recollection, "She should have come closer so she wouldn't have missed." He said aloud, laughing even more.

Yes, he was in love with this woman. She matched him in brains and brass. She was better at business than most men, and obviously had more nerve. This Scarlett was the woman he had fallen in love with, his perfect match, his other half. He was insane thinking he could leave her…and he most definitely could not leave her now…not when he'd finally seen what he'd been longing to see from her.

"She loves me more than she even loved Ashley." He thought to himself. "I wonder what changed. I wonder where she went."

He laboriously pulled himself up off the ground and walked to a mirror. He had a large bump on his forehead courtesy of the nightstand, and a nice bullet hole in his jacket and shirt. He removed his shirt and assessed the damage caused by his wife.

"Well Captain Butler, you really have gotten yourself into a mess this time…now you know why you said you weren't a marrying man. You always said she'd be the death of you." He chuckled to himself. He'd have to see Dr. Meade, he couldn't get this bullet out himself. Now, if only he knew how to explain this without doing more damage to their reputations.

Perhaps this was just what he needed. After Bonnie had died, all he wanted was to die right along with her. He had nothing else to live for. Scarlett didn't love him, and nothing he could do would change that. But now, Scarlett did love him, to the point of insanity. He'd hurt her and mocked her for too long, just as she'd said. "How did she ever learn to love me?" he thought. "It doesn't matter how, it just matters that she does. I've got to let her know that I still love her. Hell, I think I love her even more. She's the most amazing woman I've ever met."

Rhett went directly to Scarlett's room and searched the place. He didn't notice anything missing except for her hairbrush. "She must not be far, I bet she's at the Wilkes' and will return later tonight." He thought to himself. "Why would she take her hairbrush though?"

The throbbing in Rhett's shoulder brought him back to the present. "I'll stop by the bank and get some money on my way to see Dr. Meade, so that I can pay him for his services. I'll think of some story on the way over." Rhett said to himself. He called for Pork and arranged for a carriage; when it was ready, he covered himself with his overcoat and proceeded to the bank. What a surprise he had waiting for him there.