Emily lifted her head from the tech girl's shoulder and spoke softly, "he cooked me dinner."

"What?" Lia asked, not sure if she'd heard Emily right

"Yeah, last night. It was perfect. A candlelit dinner, white roses, music… he went all out," Emily reminisced.

"Matt cooks?"

Emily couldn't help but laugh as she thought about the wonderful meal, "yeah, he did pretty good job too."

"What was the occasion?"

Emily reached into the pocket of her blood soaked jeans, where she'd hidden the ring upon arriving to the scene the night before. She opened her hand in front of the tech girl to reveal the ring that was gently nestled in her palm.

The band was platinum with three, quarter caret, round cut diamonds in the center, it was simple, yet elegant. And, much to Emily's surprise, it was much like any ring she would have chosen for herself.

Lia's face beamed with excitement, "Oh my-- Emily! I can't believe you didn't tell me!"
Emily opened her mouth to speak, but Lia quickly cut in, "Wait. Why aren't you wearing it?"

"I never got the chance to answer him…" Emily's voice trailed off as thoughts of possibly never answering Matt's proposal invaded her mind.

Emily told Lia about the wonderful night Matt planned for them, the whole time she fought back the urge to cry. When Emily finished telling her story all Lia could do was reach over and hug the negotiator, Emily welcomed the much needed gesture.

The ICU room door opened, finally, it had been nearly half an hour. Emily stood up and watched the two doctors and two of the four nurses exit and walk the opposite direction down the hall. She waited patiently for the male nurse to come out and inform her of Matt's prognosis.

She poked her head around the doorframe just in time to see him walk out.

"How is he? Is he ok?" Emily begged.

"I think he's gonna be just fine." the nurse said, he saw Emily let out a deep breath. "Your partner went into anaphylactic shock due to the Demerol he was given to suppress his pain. The reaction caused his blood pressure and heart rate to rise rapidly, in turn stopping his heart completely. We were able to get his heart pumping again, which was our main concern, then we flushed the pain killers out of his system."

"Can I see him?"

"I can't let you back in there just yet, not until he wakes up and we're sure he's ok," the nurse explained.

"Please. I need to be with him."

The nurse sighed and glanced around, making sure no one else could hear him, "Look, if I walk off and you happen to sneak inside that room and no one sees you…"

"Thank you, thank you," Emily cried graciously.

"Just wait a few minutes, the other nurse is cleaning up in there, she should be out shortly.
If you get caught don't blame me."

"I promise. Thank you again," Emily said as she walked over to her co-workers.

Emily informed the others of her plan to see Matt. Just then she saw the older female nurse leave the room, pushing a cart of medical tools in front of her. Now was her only chance, while the nurse's back was turned. Emily looked up and down hallway to make sure the coast was clear, then quietly slipped into Matt's room unseen. A feeling of déjà vu rushed over her as she saw Matt lying in the hospital bed. She sat down in the small chair next to him again and reached out for Matt's hand. It was limp in her grasp and clammy to the touch, she could feel how much he'd been through.

Emily sat in silence with Matt for over an hour, never taking her eyes off of him.

"Em?" Cheryl said as she tip-toed into the room. "Emily, honey, you need to get some rest," Cheryl placed a concerned hand on Emily's shoulder.

"I can't leave, he needs me."

"You've got to, you're not even supposed to be in here. Frank and Duff have been warding off the nurses for the past forty-five minutes, I'm not sure how much longer they keep it up."

Emily looked up at her supervisor, her eyes were begging Cheryl to let her stay.

"I asked the staff to notify us immediately if he starts to come to. He won't wake up alone."

"Give me a few more minutes, please?"

"I'll be waiting outside," with that, Cheryl left the couple alone.

Emily leaned over Matt and whispered, "I'll be back as soon as I can. I love you." She placed a soft kiss on Matt's lips, then tore herself away from the man she loved.

Emily came out of Matt's room and gently closed the door behind her. She looked at each of her co-workers one by one, silently thanking them for being there for Matt.

"I'll drive you home," Cheryl said as she wrapped one arm around Emily's shoulder's and led the negotiator out of the hospital.