Quick Note: Ok guys, I'm not a doctor please keep that in mind. If you guys try to nitpick every little medical detail in the story you're probably not going to enjoy it much. I did a bit of research, but not an extensive one. So if you could, suspend reality for a bit and just go with the flow. This warning applies to my next chapter as well. Enjoy!

Chapter 6

Monday

October 17th, 2005

1740 local

Harm and Mac's house

San Diego, CA

After the talk he and Mac had in bed the day before, Harm found himself feeling happy and light hearted, something he hadn't felt since Jamie came onto the scene the week before. He and Mac spent the previous day just lounging around at home and enjoying each other's company. Mattie had spent the day with Jen so he and Mac had the place all to themselves. In a way, he and Mac used the day to try to reconnect what Jamie almost severed between them. Harm was still unsure if Mac truly understood her place in his life, but at least they were once again in a good place in their relationship. Harm promised himself that he would do everything in his power to show Mac just how much he loved her.

Harm decided to start on his little promise by making one of Mac's favourite dishes, Fettuccini Alfredo with grilled chicken. Harm knew that Mac would be tired from work and most likely would just order something completely unhealthy. He had tried calling Mac at her office and on her cell for the past half an hour to let her know not to pick up anything on the way home, but the office told him that she had already left and she wasn't picking up her cell phone. Harm wasn't too worried since it wouldn't be the first time that Mac turned off her cell just to forget to turn it back on.

Harm was just finishing up the salad when the ringing of the phone interrupted his thoughts. He quickly washed his hands and answered the phone.

"Hello," Harm said.

"Sir… it's Jen…" Harm immediately felt his blood run cold at the sound of Jen's voice. Her voice was choked with tears and he had a feeling… no, he knew that it had something to do with Mac.

"Jen, what is it? Is it Mac, did something happen to her?" Harm asked, unable to quell the panic rising in him.

"Sir, we're at Mercy Hospital… the Colonel was shot sir… I found her unconscious at the underground parking at work…"

Harm didn't stay on the phone long enough to hear the rest. He barely managed to put his shoes on and was out the door in a matter of seconds.

1800 local

Mercy Hospital

San Diego, CA

Harm doesn't even remember getting to the hospital. It was almost like his body was functioning independent of his mind. That's really the only explanation since his mind at the moment was in a state of complete panic. He saw Jen standing near one of the nurse's desk and he ran straight to her.

"Jen! Is she…" Harm couldn't bring himself to finish.

"She's with the doctors right now, sir. They haven't told me anything yet," Jen said.

Harm had to swallow the bile rising in his throat when he saw how much blood there was on Jen's uniform. "What happened?"

"I was heading to my car when I saw the Colonel lying on the pavement unconscious and bleeding. I'm not sure where the wound was from, it was dark in the parking lot and by the time the paramedics got there I was kind of pushed aside…" Jen paused for a second, contemplating whether or not to tell Harm more. "But I heard one of the paramedics yell out that she had a gunshot wound sir… Sir, her face was cut and bruised. It looked like someone beat her."

Harm felt complete rage tempered only by his feelings of fear and anxiety over Mac's condition. For a moment he didn't know what else to do, so he went to the nurse's desk and asked if they had any news on Sarah MacKenzie. The nurse told him that he would be informed when the doctor finished treating her.

After pacing the hospital corridor for a good half hour, Harm finally slumped in a chair next to Jen. Just as he did, the door swung open, and he was surprised to see Bud and Harriet… and Mattie.

"Damn it, I completely forgot! Mattie, I'm so sorry…" Harm said, feeling even worse than he had before, that he had forgotten to pick Mattie up from school. She had stayed a little longer than usual because she had a bit of research to do for an assignment.

"It's ok, Harm. I heard what happened to Mac. Is she going to be ok," Mattie asked with tears in her eyes.

"I… I don't know. They haven't told us anything," Harm said. He then turned his attention to Bud and Harriet, "How did you guys hear?"

"Well sir, Jen called us shortly after she called you. She also told us that Mattie may still be at school so we called Mattie on her cell and we went to pick her up," Bud said, putting a hand on Harm's shoulder. In all the years Bud has known Harm he doesn't remember seeing him so distraught.

"Thanks guys, all of you. I really appreciate it."

"Sir, we're family, all of us," Harriet said, hugging Harm. "We know you would have done the same for us."

"Have you spoken to the police about this sir?" Bud asked.

And as if on cue, two tall men in police uniforms approached the group. "Who here was the one who found Miss MacKenzie?" asked the older officer.

"I did, officer," Jen answered.

"Did you see anyone else there?" asked the other officer.

"No… umm… the Colonel's backseat car doors were open… I umm… remember that. The attack couldn't have been too long before I found her because she had just left the office about fifteen minutes at that point."

"Hmm… I see…" the officer said, scribbling more notes on his pad.

"Officer, do you have any leads as to who did this?" Harm asked.

"And you are…?" the older officer asked.

"I'm Harm. I'm her fiancée."

"Really? Tell me, Harm, where were you between 1700 and 1730?" the officer asked, eyeing him up and down suspiciously.

Jen, having a feeling of where the officer was getting at, jumped in rather quickly. "Officer, I called Harm at his house the moment we arrived here at the hospital. It takes at least half an hour to get from his house to the office and that's when it's not rush hour. He didn't do it if that's what you're getting at," Jen said, barely containing her anger at what the officer might have been suggesting.

"Just covering all our bases, Miss," the officer answered nonchalantly. "Does Miss MacKenzie have any enemies that might have done this?"

"Officer, Colonel MacKenzie is a lawyer; she has defended and prosecuted many over the years. We know that there are many out there who may have a score to settle with her. We couldn't begin to tell you who may have been responsible," Bud answered, looking to Harm for confirmation. Harm nodded to the police officers in agreement.

"Alright then, we have crime scene investigators at the site right now. We'll get back to you when we have anything new, folks," and with that, the officers walked away.

Just as the officers walked away, a man in scrubs approached them. "Hi, I'm Dr. Roshan, I was the attending physician to Miss MacKenzie. Are you all her family?"

"Yes, how is she?" Harm asked, anxiously.

"Well… she's stable…" Dr. Roshan said, but Harm could tell that he wasn't satisfied with it.

"Doctor please, just tell it to me straight… I can handle it," Harm said. It was of course a lie. His well-being always depended on Mac's. If she didn't make it, it wouldn't take a genius to deduce what would happen to Harm.

"Well sir, the gunshot wound was not the problem. It was a clean shot right through the shoulders. We patched that part up and she should make a complete recovery in that aspect."

"Then what is it?" Harm asked, trying to hide the impatience in his voice.

"She suffered a severe head injury, sir," the doctor said. "We did a CT scan and she had quite a bit of bleeding in the brain in and around the temporal lobe. We drained as much of it as we could, but we won't really know the full extent of her injury until she wakes up."

"What can we expect?" Harriet asked.

"The complications can range from loss of vision, memory, motor skills… really, it's too early to tell at the moment."

"Would she be able to make a full recovery?" Mattie asked, speaking up for the first time since she got there.

"Again, I'm sorry to say that it's too early to tell. The problem with head injuries is that they're easier to treat when the patient's conscious. The blow to her head was so severe that as such, her skull was fractured from where she was hit."

This made Harm sick to his stomach that he had to put his hand on the wall to steady himself. He would kill the bastard who did this to her he swore to himself.

"Doctor, can we see her?" Harm asked.

"I don't see why not, but it'll have to be one at a time."

Harm of course was the first one to see her. He thought he had prepared himself, but seeing her lying in that hospital bed, bruised and battered with tubes and monitors attached to her, he realized that nothing could have really prepared him to see the love of his life in such a state. He felt like a vise was clamped around his heart.

"Mac, honey it's Harm. Baby, I hope you know you took about twenty years off my life… and maybe more if you don't wake up soon," Harm said softly as he sat next to her bed.

Harm looked up at the monitors. Her heart rate was steady. He wasn't a doctor, but he assumed that was a good sign. He kept talking to her.

"You know, you missed a really good dinner tonight. I was making you one of your favourites, Fettuccini Alfredo with grilled chicken and Greek Salad. I also rented a movie to watch after dinner. I rented the Sound Of Music," Harm said, chuckling lightly through his tears. "I know it's one of your favourites, that movie. You see how much I love you, Mac? I'm willing to sit through a three hour chick flick for you. And a musical at that!"

"But don't you worry about anything but getting better, ok? I'll be right here when you wake up, Mac. I'm not going anywhere."

Mac didn't stir even a little and this broke Harm's heart. "You're going to be ok, Mac, you hear me? You're going to be just fine. We're all worried sick about you. Mattie, Jen, Bud and Harriet are all outside waiting to see you… Don't you dare break their hearts, Mac," Harm said, sternly. "Don't you dare break mine."

Tuesday

October 18th, 2005

2230 local

Mercy Hospital

After Harm's mother heard about what happened to Mac, she insisted that Harm get a private room for her so that he can stay as long as he wanted which Harm's mother knew would be 24/7. Harm knew that a private room was expensive and he didn't want his mother to have to pay for it, but she had insisted and he was too drained, physically and emotionally, to argue.

Other than a few brief washroom breaks, Harm hadn't left Mac's side. If Bud, Harriet and Jen hadn't taken turns bringing him something to eat, he probably would have gone without food. Harm was thankful that Bud and Harriet gladly let Mattie stay at their home for a while. He really didn't have it in him to worry about anything else other than Mac at the moment.

There hadn't been much change in Mac's condition, but he was glad to see that the bruises on her face were beginning to fade. To add to Harm's frustrations, the police still didn't have a lead as to who did all this to Mac. Harm had spent the last twenty four hours wracking his brain thinking of who might have done this to her. He and Mac made their share of enemies over the years as lawyers. He really didn't know where to start.

His thoughts were interrupted by Mac's hand twitching in his. It was the first movement she's made since she got to the hospital and Harm couldn't help but feel a surge of hope.

"Mac, honey, wake up, it's Harm… yeah that's it," Harm said as he watched Mac's eyelids flutter.

"Hmm… Harm?" Mac asked, her voice still raspy.

"Yeah, I'm right here, I'm just going to call the doctor. Everything's going to be alright."

The doctor rushed to Mac's room immediately after Harm had him paged.

"Sarah, I'm Dr. Roshan, I was the doctor who attended to you when you were admitted," Mac only nodded at this. "How are you feeling?"

"Uhh… have umm… bit of a headache."

"That's understandable. Any problems with your vision?"

"No."

"Can you move your arms and wiggle your toes?"

Mac nodded yes.

"Any loss of sensation anywhere in your limbs?"

"No."

"That's good," the doctor said. "Your shoulder has been healing nicely too. It'll have to be in a sling for a few weeks, but that's about it. You're lucky that the bullet went right through your shoulder."

Harm smiled in relief, until he saw the frown on Mac's face.

"I was shot?" Mac asked completely confused.

"Yes, you don't remember?" Dr. Roshan asked.

"Umm… no… I don't think so," Mac replied.

"That's ok. You suffered a head injury and short term memory loss is not entirely uncommon. We'll do another CT scan just to make sure everything's ok. I'm sure when the bruising of the brain has gone down you'll be good as new," the doctor said as he jot some stuff down on his clipboard. "Tell me Sarah, what's the last thing you remember?"

"Umm… I was uhh… driving home, and I lost control of my car… I hit a tree…"

"What?!" Harm asked, incredulously.

The doctor calmly put a hand on Harm's shoulder urging him to calm down. Upsetting Mac would just be counterproductive.

"Sarah, do you know what the date is?" Dr. Roshan asked.

"Well… I don't know how long I've been out, but maybe December 25th or 26th?"

"What year, Sarah?" the doctor asked.

"2004," Mac answered, as if to say 'duh'.

Harm was at a loss for words. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. His fiancée seemed to have lost almost a year's worth of memories.

TBC in Chapter 7

Did you guys like that twist? I'm evil, I know. But don't worry, I always wrap things up nicely in my stories and things will fall into place for Harm and Mac. My next chapter will deal with the repercussions of Mac's amnesia especially in regards to her relationship with Harm. Also, we'll catch up with Jamie as well. Thanks so much for the feedback, it motivates me to write. Keep 'em coming.