Her opportunity arose when the man himself came by a short time later. With a determined, commanding walk he crossed the ICU area and stopped short in front of Harm's room.

He hesitated for a little, not sure what he would see in there, but then reached out and turned the handle.

The sight that greeted him was something he never would've expected to see. The Commander, who was always so full of life and always had such a presence, was laying in his bed, unaware of the world around him.

Though the General had never seen the Commander smiling or even happy, he was struck by how quiet and pale the man was. Even the sheets surrounding him had more colour than his face. There was also a multitude of tubes and wires attached to him, all leading to every kind of monitoring equipment he could've imagined.

The massive muscular body, which spoke of a life dedicated to a lot of physical work and of dedication to it's health and which made Gordon sure would be a real challenge, if not impossible, to beat in a physical battle, looked small and fragile. He suddenly realized that a lot of that presence that the Commander radiated was due to the pure force of his intense and incredibly strong personality.

His gaze then slid from the prostate form to the one holding it's hand. PO Coates sat in the chair by the bed, holding Harm's hand and whispering softly to him. 'Is there something going on with them that I should know about?'

The General coughed slightly to get Jen's attention.

At the sound of the cough Jen's head whipped around, her face blanching and eyes widening in horror. She hadn't heard him come in, so he must've seen her holding Harm's hand and talking softly to him. The moment she feared and hoped for was suddenly upon her.

Deciding that what happens happens, she squared her shoulders and faced the General.

Gordon was surprised and impressed by his Yeoman's courage in facing him after being, in what seemed to him, a compromising position.

She signaled him to keep quiet and motioned that they should go outside and talk there. He preceeded her to the corridor, turned towards her and decided that he should let her talk first. She didn't disappoint him.

"Sir, can I have a word with you?"

The General turned his cool, calculating eyes on her. They narrowed angrily as he asked.

"How can I help you, Mrs. Rabb?"

Jen flinched from the stare and then blanched, realizing that the General thought she was married to Harm. She decided to explain quickly, lest she and Harm both lose their jobs.

"About that, sir. I want you to know that the Commander and I never had any kind of relationship that would be in violation with the fraternization regulations. The medics on site, who treated me, assumed I was married to the Commander and since it was the easiest way to get information about his condition, I never corrected their mistake. That mistake was also made by the hospital's staff and I didn't explain, again for the same reason. The Commander's parents are currently on a trip through Europe and are unreachable at the moment. And since I was his former ward's room-mate and took care of her while he was on assignments, I am also on his next-of-kin list along with his former ward. If I was believed to be his real family, I would get any info even easier"

Cresswell nodded thoughtfully while listening and his glare abated.

"You do realize, PO, that if they find out you lied, they could file charges against you?"

Jen nodded guiltily and admitted:

"I know, sir, but it was the only thing I could come up with at the moment."

Cresswell was satisfied with that answer and prompted her to state her request, since he was really curious as to what she wanted to say. Moving slightly so a member of the staff could pass, he paused before asking.

"So, what did you want to ask me, Mrs. Rabb?"

Jen was startled, but any worry disappeared when she noticed the humorous twinkle in his eyes. She was relieved that he believed her, since what she was about to say next would test his trust in her.

"First off, I would like to brief you on the Commander's condition, Sir. He has a deep thigh wound from where a piece of wood penetrated it, a concussion from hitting his head on the side window along with numerous bruises and lacerations, accounting for heavy blood loss. It is a miracle he survived. He crashed once in the ambulance on the way here, but was thankfully revived. I am only bruised and have a sprained shoulder. We were very lucky, the Commander's car is a total loss. Sir, it will be awhile before the Commander recuperates and is even let out of the hospital. Both of his parents are over 60, he has no wife or girlfriend and his friends either all have families of their own or can't take care of him because of various reasons. As I am listed as the Commander's next of kin, it is my duty to take the responsibility of helping the Commander recuperate. Oh and sir, it was definitely the other driver's fault, who was drunk. The Commander did everything possible to prevent the crash, but nothing would've prevented it from happening. As it is, he protected me at the cost of his own safety. The other driver later on completely destroyed my car, which was standing at the side of the road, also by crashing into it too and he died in that crash." she was nervous as to what he would say to all of that. She added the last part so the General would not blame Harm for what happened.

Gordon Cresswell knew that these were all perfectly good reasons, but everything had to be above board, so there would be no problems later on. Frankly, he was also concerned about their relationship, because it could cause trouble for them.

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Against popular belief he didn't like to prosecute people for fraternization. Though he did enjoy throwing the book at Col. Farrow, but that was because the Colonel took advantage of a married, young, impressionable and naive woman, who had a tough childhood, making her more receptible to those who made their interest in her known. And PO Coates is definitely neither naive nor impressionable.

While both Petty Officer Coates and Lt. Col. MacKenzie lost their mothers at a young age and had abusive fathers, their personality development went into completely different ways.

While Col. MacKenzie didn't become guarded towards men and still got involved with a number of men over the years even though she was married (he wouldn't be a General if he didn't know everything about his subordinates lives, he had many reliable sources, among them friends in the CIA, former Marines of his), she always got involved with wrong men and had her heart broken. She was very introverted, quiet, a loner and it seemed to Gordon that she was bitter at times, not very happy with her life. While everyone in the office treated each other much like a family even on-duty, she kept her distance by adhering strictly to the protocol and keeping herself closed off in her office. She was somewhat of a loner.

PO Coates, on the other hand, put up strong shields against any man who showed interest in her. Gordon mused that since she got involved with the wrong crowd, that was a very wise decision to make, though it made for a lonely life. He wasn't sure if she ever got involved with any man, since she was wary of them because of her father. She didn't want to get involved with someone like that and chances were, in the group she was, she would get involved with a wrong guy. That way no man would be able to take advantage of her. While the Colonel became introverted, the PO became a cheerful, out-going, social young woman, probably mostly due to her avoiding romantic relationships with men, thus never having her heart broken and not becoming bitter because of it. In the office she exuded friendliness, warmth and caring, never trying to put any distance between her and other members of the staff. Though she stuck to the protocol regarding those above her, she still managed to inject a dose of warmth in her behaviour towards her close friends. Gordon also noticed a wiseness in the young PO's eyes, a wiseness far beyond her years. And before she could become bitter and angry, she was saved by a man who actually cared for his clients. From what Cresswell gleaned out of the rumor mill and reports, the Commander helped her put her life back in order and gave her an incentive to stay on course, unknowingly making her his lifelong devoted friend and ally. He touched her life so deeply, making himself important to her, making her fiercely devoted, protective, loyal and caring of him, by just being himself. He wondered if the Commander was even aware of what he did for Jen by just believing in her and being there for her when she needed someone. The Commander seemed to be oblivious as to what he meant to some people.

The Commander was another example of childhood determining how a person would turn out. Having lost his father at the young age of 6, he learned to build walls around his heart, protecting it from being broken again. Both these walls were not always completely fail-safe. When he was 16, a Vietnamese girl sneaked past these walls, capturing his heart, only to shatter it again when she was killed before his eyes (his old friend Stryker once told him about a young boy who joined him in Vietnam. Gordon realized only recently who that boy was and was astounded as to all the Commander had gone through in his life. He was also very proud to have him under his command, aware of the fact that many carrier Captains and other Commanding Officers would kill to get the Commander under their own command. Heck, they would kill just to get a look into Rabb's complete personnel file). Coupled with the horrors the young man lived through and witnessed during his "Tour" in 'Nam, it further traumatized the young man, making him even more wary of exposing his heart. Which didn't protect him from having his heart broken time and time again throughout his life. But from the reports by his predecessor Admiral Cheggwidden and all the annual psych profiles made on his officers, Gordon surmissed that the Commander has changed alot since Paraguay. He didn't know what happened down there, since it was all classified, but it seemed that the Commander had his heart shattered for the last time. When he returned to JAG, he was not the same man that left 6 months ago. Weary of life and what it did to him, disappointed and disheartened by his failures in his romantic relationships, let down by his friends and the woman he loved, he threw his last reserves into fatherhood of a young, abandoned girl. And dragged a PO in it, however voluntarily she became involved. They created a make-shift family, unconventional as it was, it was still very much more functional than most others, if the fierceness with which the PO protected and cared for him was anything to go by.

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