Sorry the last chapter was a little short...I tried to give you more this time around. Plus, after that hideous "phone sex" scene with Jack this past Thursday, I needed something to help from plucking out my mind's eye!

As we left last, Samantha was saying a prayer while Jack was going through some tests. Let's see how he faired...

Chapter 12 – I'm Not Leaving

The sound of rustling and quiet voices woke her. Jumping up, she glanced at her watch and was shocked to see she had been asleep for almost two hours. She tried to smooth out her hair and clothes while several nurses transferred Jack into bed, hooked up monitors and IV bags.

Julie came in to check the settings on all the monitors. After completing some paper work and conferring with the LVNs, she smiled at Samantha and noted, "Glad to see you got some rest."

Samantha nodded, then moved slowly to stand by Jack's bedside.

He was so pale and horribly swollen. Everywhere she looked, she saw either stitches, or bruises, or cuts. His nose was taped, his jaw was wired shut, and his neck was in a brace. She gently touched his cheek and fought a wave of heartbreak softly saying, "I'm here Jack. I'm not leaving. You rest easy. I'll be right here when you wake up."

Turning to Julie, she asked, "What did the tests show?"

Nodding positively, Julie replied, "He did fine. The CAT scan showed no swelling in the brain and all responses were normal. The MRI was also very positive. No internal organ damage and only surface fractures to his cheek bones and eye sockets. We will keep him fairly heavily sedated for the next twelve hours. Why don't you go home and get some quality rest? I promise we will take good care of him for you."

Samantha nodded weakly, "All right. Please, just let me have a few minutes with him before I go."

Julie patted her shoulder and said, "Take your time," and left.

Picking up his hand, she was alarmed at how cold he was. Cradling his hand in hers, she tried to warm it while trying to absorb how shocking his face looked. His breathing was shallow but steady as the various machines beeped rhythmically and flashed readings.

She closed her eyes and remembered his face…that face that mesmerized her early on.

His jaw was strong with a small cleft in his chin. She remembered running her finger along his chin and saying he was "a baby Kirk Douglas." His nose wasn't prominent—on the thin side and slightly pointed.

His cheeks were full and he didn't have much in the way of an upper lip, but oh, could this man kiss! He allowed only rare smiles during the workday, but she had been privileged to a wide variety of smiles when they were alone…and his smiles were like human sunshine.

Preferring to be clean-shaven, but incredibly sexy with a day or two stubble as she remembered when they had taken a trip to Alaska to find a man in the Witness Protection Program.

His thick dark hair was a dream and the hints of gray at his temples made her swoon. She didn't know if it was her or him that got more pleasure from the sensation of her running her fingers through his hair after they made love.

And then there were his eyes…dark piercing eyes that spoke volumes with a mere glance. Many a time those eyes had pinned her motionless and caused her knees to go weak. She had seen them cut right through many a man who thought they were real bad asses. She had seen them fill with mist over a victim's pain. She had seen them absolutely melt women into blubbering idiots who would confess their darkest secrets….she ought to know.

Looking at him now, she couldn't see those fine-looking physical traits. But, she felt his heart beating strong and knew that was the true essence of the man she cared so deeply for. Yes, he certainly presented a dashingly handsome figure, but his heart was the most attractive of his traits.

Pleased that his hand felt much warmer now, she pulled the covers up under his chin, being careful not to harm him. She lightly stroked his hair and whispered, "Look what you do to me John Michael Malone."

Placing a kiss to her fingertips and pressing it gently to his forehead she promised, "You know what? I think I'll just stay here with you tonight. I don't want you to wake up alone. I'll be right over there. Rest well."

Turning to walk away, she stopped and whispered, "You know Jack, I think we need to have a talk when you're up to it."

She phoned Danny and relayed that Jack's tests came back clean and he was resting in his room. The nurse thought he would probably be coming out of sedation sometime in the morning and yes, should would bethere around 11'ish. Danny said he would call the others and they would see her tomorrow at the hospital.

Much later that night, an orderly named Mark, and the night nurse named Jonathan, came in on rounds and saw her sleeping on the cot. One asked the other, "I take it that is his wife?" The other answered, "Not sure, but she's been with him since the ambulance brought him in. They even allowed her in the trauma room. Whoever she is…he's a lucky man to have someone so dedicated."

-xxxx-

Vivian and Danny entered Jack's room the next morning and saw the disheveled cot in the corner. Vivian shook her head asking, "Does Martin know about this?" Danny responded thoughtfully, "You know Viv, I really don't want to get involved, but Martin and Samantha never really clicked, and they were having problems lately. I can't say as I'm surprised at Samantha, though. We are probably gonna have to drug her to get her out of here."

Samantha walked in, and Danny immediately noticed the heavy bags under her eyes as he tried to imagine the hell she had gone through just yesterday. All he could do was hug her and make the excuse that he would go get everyone coffee before he lost control of his emotions.

Vivian touched her arm and asked, "How are you today?" Samantha glanced at Jack, then confidently raised her chin and said, "I'm good Viv. When he comes around I will be better, but for now I'm good. Thanks for asking."

They made small talk until Danny came back with the coffees and then Vivian caught Samantha up on Wilkinson and his gang. "The DA is going to press attempted murder charges for his attack on Jack. One of the men Wilkinson shot died, but the other would recover. The three that surrendered and the one in the hospital all cut deals with the DA and would testify against Wilkinson."

"Jennifer is still pretty shaken, but she's providing valuable information to the DA on Wilkinson's other activities. The case looks strong, and with Jack and Martin's testimony, it looks like Wilkinson will be going away for a long time."

The doctor came in to check on Jack, so the three agents stepped out into the waiting room. Danny saw Martin heading to Jack's room and called out, "Yo Martin. Over here" and waived his arm to get his attention.

Samantha gasped, embarrassed, "My gosh! Martin. I forgot about Martin."

Watching him approach, she noticed a large bandage on the side of his head just above his ear. "Oh Martin, are you all right?" she asked sincerely, while lightly touching his cheek and examining the injury.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It takes more than a whack on the head with a piece of pipe to get through this thick skull. How are you holding up?"

She nodded hesitantly, "I'm good too. Just a bit tired like everyone else. Would you, umm…mind walking with me a bit?"

Even though Martin wanted to scream "NO. I don't want to walk with you because this is good-bye and I don't want to say good-bye," he smiled weakly and said, "Sure. Let's head out to the courtyard. You probably could use the fresh air."

They walked in uncomfortable silence down the busy hospital hallway, past the gift shop and outside.

The hospital grounds included a quaint garden with meandering walkways. Park benches were spread out along the walks and provided quiet places to rest and reflect. Martin slowed, took his hands out of his pockets and motioned to a bench near a water fountain.

Samantha tried to look at Martin and pick the right words to start the dreaded conversation, but he beat her to it saying, "You know Samantha, I may not be the fastest car on the track, but I know when I've been beat."

"Martin. Please believe me when I say I didn't plan this. You've been nothing but wonderful to me, but…I don't know…when I saw him like that…I…" She raised a frustrated hand in the air then rested her forehead in her palm. "I don't know what happened or even why I've been acting like I have."

"Well, it is painfully obvious from the outside looking in. You love him Samantha. I didn't want to admit it because I thought we could make it work between us. But I'm odd man out here. I just want you to be happy. I thought I could be the one who made you happy. But…okay…now I'm rambling out of control" he said as he laughed nervously and ducked his head.

Samantha slowly nodded her head as she stood and placed her hands on his shoulders. Smiling sincerely, she placed a kiss on his cheek and said, "Thank you Martin. Thank you for everything."

"Yeah well, sometimes even the toughest characters need a little help now and then." Kissing her forehead, he said, "Come on. Let's go. Danny tells me you are going to work on some cold case file reviews while you sit with Jack. If you don't mind, I have a few started with some potential leads, but with Wilkinson's trial coming up, I won't be able to work on them for a while. They walked comfortably back inside while discussing cases and potential leads.

Meeting back up with Vivian and Danny, they all discussed what each would be doing the next few days. It was understood that Vivian would be their supervisor until Jack was back on his feet. They all left Samantha after she promised to keep them posted if Jack's condition changed either way.

tbc