The morning light broke through the blinds of the hospital room. Walsh stretched his arms. He looked over at the clock in the room and saw that it was 7:08. Taylor was still sleeping peacefully. He decided to let her sleep, since he knew that she was going to be even more uncomfortable after her upcoming operation. Slowly he stood up and stretched his legs, preparing to leave.

"Where are you going?" Taylor asked as she stirred

"I was going to head out." He replied

"You made a promise to me." She reminded him

"You're really scared about this." He noted

"Yes. Everyone has limits of what they can take. And I'm scared that my body has reached its limit." She admitted.

Walsh sat back down and took her hand in his bulky, bandaged hands.

"I thought that we went through this last night." He started. "You're a strong woman. You've gone through so much. That's made you even stronger. This is just one more bump in the road."

"I know." She replied

"Whatever happened to the firefighter I knew who said that they didn't know what being afraid was. That they were always taught to be brave in the face of adversity?" He asked

"They fell through a floor and nearly died." She replied

"But they didn't now did they?" He asked

She thought about it for a minute. He had turned this around on her, and proven to her that she could still be brave.

"Tell you what." He said. "After this is all said and done, I'll take you on an adventure trip of your choice."

"What, you mean like skydiving?" Taylor asked

"Anything." He smiled

"You really don't know what you're getting yourself into." She told him

"It doesn't matter as long as it helps you get better." He smiled

The nurses came in to prepare Taylor for surgery.

"Promise me that you'll be here when I wake up." Taylor said

"I'll be here." Walsh replied.

"Thank you." Taylor added

"Okay, we need to take you down for surgery now." The nurse said

"Billy." Taylor said

"Yeah?" He asked

"You're a great friend." She said, "Thank you for being here. I doubt that I would be if it weren't for you."

Walsh smiled slightly. "You think you aren't gonna make it through this?"

Taylor had a frightened look in her eyes.

"I'll be right here when you wake up." He smiled as he kissed her forehead.

"I love you." He added softly

He stood back in the hallway and watched as Taylor was wheeled towards the elevator. It was about to be another very long day. He decided that he was going to go change and get something to eat.

The day seemed to drag on as Walsh readjusted himself in the chairs of the waiting area. He wasn't alone, Beth and Adam Taylor were there as well as Lt. Johnson and the entire Squad. Carlos sat in the corner, leafing through magazines while DK and Lombardo chatted quietly.

It was about 8 hours later when the doctor came into the waiting room looking for Beth.

"Mrs. Taylor." She said

"Yes?" Beth asked anxiously

"I'm Dr. Kerns, I performed the surgery on your daughter." She said

"How is she?" Beth asked

"Overall it went well, but I'm afraid that there may be a complication to it." Dr. Kerns replied

"Complication? What kind of complication?" Beth asked

"During the surgery, your daughter developed a fever. I'm afraid that she may develop an infection." Dr. Kerns replied. "So for precautionary measures, she's in a sterile isolation room."

Beth became scared. "Will she be okay?"

"We're going to watch and make sure that she doesn't have an infection, and if she does develop one, we'll do everything we can to knock it out of her system." Dr. Kerns added

"Thank you." Beth replied

"If there's anything else that I can do for you, please let me know." Dr. Kerns said

Beth just nodded her head as the Doctor walked away.

The rest of the Squad looked on in silence. No one knew exactly what to say.

"Thank you all for coming." Beth managed to say. "It means a lot to know that so many people care about my daughter that you've stood by her all of this time."

Lt. Johnson nodded silently. But after all Taylor had been through a lot, and she was their sister. They had come too far to give up on her.

"We'll be praying for her." DK said

Everyone nodded in agreement. Slowly they all made their way out of the waiting room. Walsh stayed in the chair he had occupied much of the day.

"You okay Billy?" Lt. Johnson asked

Walsh looked up about half dazed by the unexpected question.

"Have you ever had a question that you needed to ask someone, but were afraid to ask?" He asked

Lt. Johnson looked on for a moment.

"Like?" Lt. Johnson asked

"How did you ask Ruth to marry you?" Walsh asked

Lt. Johnson smiled. "Well, it wasn't in a hospital ICU if that's what you're getting at."

"I'm afraid that if I don't ask her, and something else happens- I'll regret it." Walsh replied

"Well, then I think you already know the answer to your question. You only live once Billy." Lt. Johnson patted him on the shoulder.

"Thanks Lieu." Walsh smiled

Walsh sat in the corner for a long time after Lt. Johnson left. He debated on going through the precautions to be able to go in and visit with Taylor. Beth Taylor came out in the blue hospital scrubs that she was provided to visit with her daughter.

"Billy, why are you still sitting in the corner?" She asked

"I don't know." He replied

"Alex was asking for you. I thought you had left since I hadn't seen you." She replied

"I thought about it." He said. "Just like I've thought about a couple of other things."

Beth sat down in the chair beside him.

"What's on your mind?" She asked

"Spoken like a true mother." He smiled. "I think I'm going to ask Alex to marry me."

A smile crossed Beth's face.

"But?" She asked

"I'm scared to." He replied

"Now Billy, I've known you long enough to know that you're not scared to do anything. This shouldn't be hard for you. You obviously have feelings for her, and I know that she has some for you. It shouldn't be hard to tell her how you feel." She smiled

He smiled slightly back.

"Maybe I will." He said.