Chapter 6: What Do You Say?

"Stuck at a red light outside an adult bookstore

His son said Daddy what are all those X's for

As the light turned green he changed the subject fast

Started talking about football as they drove right past

So what do you say in a moment like this

When you can't find the words to tell it like it is

Just bite your tongue and let your heart lead the way

Let's get out of here

Oh what do you say"

Stella and Mac stand outside what looks like a peaceful house, but they have reason to believe a suspect is hiding inside. They position themselves to enter, and Mac busts down the door. Stella goes down a hallway as the others head in. As she enters a bedroom she sees two closets: one next to her and one across the room. When she has her back turned, the suspect comes out of a closet with a knife in hand. He pins Stella's arms against her sides, knocking her gun out of her hands, and holds the knife to her throat. She screams, receiving a "Shut up before I kill you," from the guy, and everyone hears and comes rushing to her aid. Mac is first into the room. He would have shot the guy then and there if Stella wasn't in between them.

"I'll make a deal with you. I'll give you your partner back if you all leave and wait five minutes before coming back to get her. When I come out, no one better shoot me or follow me. Is that clear?" Stella keeps her eyes on Mac the whole time, knowing he'll give in. "If not, I will kill her," he moves the knife up to Stella's throat and her eyes are pleading with Mac to save her. He desperately wants to have Stella in his arms, safe and sound, but he can't look away from her pleads. "Which will it be, Detective?" Mac wants to say something to comfort her, but he can't find his voice. He doesn't even talk when he leaves the room, motioning for everyone to follow. When he is sure everyone is out of the house, the suspect kicks Stella's gun out of his way. "So you can't shoot me when you fall," he whispers in her ear. "Your police friends are letting me walk, and I am going to kill you too and get away with it."

Mac eventually is able to tell Flack to hide around the corner of the house while everyone else leaves. "When he comes out, you shoot him, and I'll go get Stella. We can't let him hurt her and get away with it."

"Didn't he say he wasn't going to harm her if we left? If I shoot him, he won't have a chance to go back in and hurt her, Mac."

"Yes, but there is no way he could hold her there and not harm her. He has attacked three other women."

"Seventeen years old

She was out with her friends

They started drinking at some party

Till she was three sheets to the wind

Her momma always told her she could call no matter what

She was crying on the front steps

When her mom showed up

So what do you say in a moment like this

When you can't find the words to tell it like it is

Just bite your tongue and let your heart lead the way

Let's get out of here

Oh what do you say"

Mac found Stella in the bedroom where he left her; from what he could tell she had a cut on her neck from having the knife pressed against it and her shoulders and arms were cut pretty badly. 'Stella is still breathing, thank god,' Mac thinks. Again he is unable to come up with something to say to her so he just summons rescue and carries her outside. By carrying her outside, Mac has just risked contaminating evidence on her, but they already had enough to convict him. Stella, conscious throughout the whole thing, was surprised when Mac didn't say anything to her. She couldn't think of anything to say to him either, so they silently wait for the ambulance. Mac gets most of the bleeding on her arms and shoulders under control so she doesn't lose too much blood.

Finally Mac decides to break the awkward silence between them. "Are you okay? I'm sorry I left you in there with him, but I was afraid he would kill you if we didn't. If we left, there was still a chance you would be alive. I was willing to take that chance and I hope you don't mind," he pauses and she cuts in.

"No, I'm fine, Mac. It's okay. Flack got the guy, didn't he?"

"Yeah, I guess you'll be doing paperwork for a while then."

"Damn, now I wish you hadn't left me in there," Stella tries to look angry, but ends up laughing.

"What did he do to you after we left?"

"Um, he moved my gun away so I couldn't shoot him and then said he was going to kill me and get away with it. He took the knife from my throat and made that long cut on my upper arm. I fought, trying to get away, but I guess I just caused myself more injury. When he was satisfied that I was going to die from loss of blood, he left and I guess you know the rest," Stella says as an ambulance arrives.

"Sometimes you gotta listen to the silence

And give yourself a little time to think

Her every breath is weaker than the last

And lately when she sleeps she talks about the past

Her husband knows she's tired of holding on

She looks at him and says I wanna go home

What do you say in a moment like this

When you can't find the words to tell it like it is

Just close your eyes and let your heart lead the way

Oh what do you say"

Stella got to come home from the hospital later that day. She had to get a few stitches where the cuts got deep. She and Mac lay in the bed talking before going to sleep. "You know how I told you that I was kind of quiet, shy I guess you could say, at school as a kid?"

"There was a time when you where quiet?" Mac says and she punches him in the chest, "Ow."

"Yes, well I wasn't like that back at the orphanage. The opposite actually. I still didn't have any "friends" though. Every friend I made left when they found out I was an orphan. This one girl actually made fun of me because of it, and everyone else learned to leave me alone when they saw her. I had broken her arm and given her a black eye among other injuries. And I got in big trouble with Sister Noelle," she pauses and Mac is, for a third time that day, at a loss for words. He puts his arm around her, knowing how hard it is to talk about something you've kept hidden for so long. To his surprise, she continues with another memory.

"There was one book I was always reading. It was about European cultures. I read the parts on Italian and Greek cultures too many times to count. That book was the only information I read about my background until I left the orphanage. Actually, I still have it somewhere. Anyway, now I use the internet. That was the only thing I found interesting about history." Mac rolls over to kiss her.

"I also got a fear of spiders in the orphanage when I woke up with a few in bed with me," Stella glances over at Mac. He had an anxious look in his eyes, and she knew he was glad she had opened up and couldn't wait to here this story. Mac didn't know she hated spiders.

"After I beat up that girl who made fun of me, all of the other kids at the orphanage considered me to be a sort of hero for them for sticking up for us; everyone made fun of orphans at school so… yeah, you get the point. Well, two of the boys decided to test how brave I really was and put spiders in my bed. I got in and everyone tried to hide their laughter. I kept asking what was so funny but no one answered me; apparently word had gotten around about what they did but I guess none of the sisters found out. I eventually gave up and went to bed. I woke up in the middle of the night because I felt something moving on my arm. I pulled it out from under the cover but there was nothing on it. Then I felt something by my foot so I pulled the comforter back and saw a spider on my leg, one on my stomach, and three on the sheet next to me. I jumped out of the bed and started screaming. Two of the sisters came rushing in to see what was wrong. By that time everyone else had woken up and the two boys were laughing at me. Sister Noelle punished them and had to keep me away from them for the next month so I wouldn't beat them up. Ever since then I've hated spiders."

Mac thinks over everything she had revealed about herself, "It must have taken a lot of strength to tell me what you did."

"Well, you're the one who asked," she rolls over on top of him and kisses his forehead.

"Thank you, Stella," he whispers before pulling her down to kiss her lips.

Stella did not feel embarrassed of telling him any of this. She is glad she now has someone that she trusts enough to tell this to.

"Just bite your tongue and let your heart lead the way

Let's get out of here

Oh what do you say"

A/N: Another Reba song "What Do You Say?" Thanks for reading. Please review. I'll try to get the last chapter up as soon as I can.