Chapter 11

The next morning

Mac's hospital room

"Ok hon, all your stuff's in the bag… is there anything we're forgetting?" Harm asked, as he gathered Mac's things.

The doctor had given Mac the green light to go home early in the morning after she got through the night without incident. Now she and Harm were gathering the last of her belongings and were ready to go home.

"Mac, the next time we go home from the hospital we'd better be taking home a new mini Rabb with us."

"I hope so too, Harm," Mac said, wrapping her arms around his waist from behind.

Harm turned around and engulfed Mac in his embrace. "Have faith, Mac. And anyway, considering what God put us through this past week, he owes us a miracle!"

"I don't know if he owes us, but I wouldn't mind a miracle or two… or three" Mac said through her giggles. "You know Harm, in my mind we've only been together since last night, but it already feels like we've been together for years! Everything just feels so natural."

"That's because we were made for each other. It was fate," Harm said bending down to kiss Mac.

"And fate will keep us together forever," Mac said. She noticed the odd look Harm gave her. "What, did I say something wrong?"

"No, no, it's just that, I said almost those exact same words when I proposed to you."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I guess maybe you're remembering things… just subconsciously… maybe."

"I hope so… I'd hate to lose my memories of the last several months. From what I saw in those pictures, they were probably the best months of my life," Mac said, hugging Harm.

"Ok, well that's the last of them," Harm said, as he stuffed Mac's toothbrush into the bag.

"Great, let's get out of here. I can't wait to go home… wherever that is."

"Not so fast, Ninja-girl. I haven't gotten you a wheelchair yet."

"Wheelchair?" Mac asked, incredulously. "Harm, don't be silly. I'm fine, I don't need a wheelchair. Look at me, I'm walking fine on my own."

"You're walking fine around the room, but I don't want you over exerting yourself once we're out of here. The last thing we need is for you to overdo things and end up back here."

"Harm, I'm not going to overdo it. You know me."

"That's exactly what I'm talking about… C'mon Mac, just for my peace of mind."

"Harm, I'm a --"

"Marine, yeah, yeah I know, but considering you took about twenty years off my life this past week alone, the least you could do is humour me."

"Harm…"

"Please Mac," Harm whined. "If you do this, I'll agree to erase the 'obey' in the 'honour and obey' part of our vows."

"Oh alright… I'll humour you… but just this once, Flyboy," Mac said, unable to ignore Harm's boyish charms.

"Yes, Ma'am," Harm saluted, as he walked out of the room to find a wheelchair.

About a minute after Harm stepped out, there was a knock on the door. It was Jamie.

"Hey Sarah, I'm glad I caught you while Harm's not here. Did the doctor give you clearance to leave?" Jamie asked.

"Yes," Mac answered, curtly, turning her back to him.

"Great, well let's get going then," Jamie said, reaching for Mac's bag on the bed.

"I'm going home with Harm," Mac said, as she took her bag back.

"With Harm? I don't understand, I thought we had decided that it was a bad idea and you'd be staying with me."

"We did… but I had agreed under the wrong assumptions."

"What do you mean?"

"You lied to me," Mac said, jabbing her finger at his chest. "You led me to believe that Harm was getting married to someone else."

"He… uhh… he told you?"

"Yes."

"But I thought the doctor said not to --"

"How could you do that to me, Jamie?! How could you do that when you knew how I felt about him. How could you lie to me like that? I thought we were friends!"

"We are! I did what I thought was best for you. He's not good for you, Sarah. I had hoped that if you spent some time with me that you'd realize that you'd be happier with me than with him."

"You don't get to make that decision."

"He doesn't love you enough. I do!"

"That's not how you love someone, Jamie! You don't manipulate them and take advantage of their vulnerability. What you did makes you no different from any of the other men in my past. Harm and I may have had a lot of hits and misses, but he has never once played games with my mind."

"Sarah, just let me explain…" but Jamie was interrupted by Harm walking into the room.

"Ok Mac, I've got…" Harm stopped in mid-sentence noticing Jamie in the room. "What the hell are you doing here?!"

Mac quickly went to Harm's side and took his hand in hers, trying to calm him down. She did not want a repeat of the day before. "Harm, it's ok, he was just leaving."

"He better be," Harm said, glaring at Jamie.

"You don't deserve her, man. You've had plenty of chances in the past and you messed up on all of them! You hurt her! You hurt her bad! You weren't the one who had to listen to all those tearful phone calls she's made to me over the years."

Mac saw Harm flinch and she knew that he was starting to listen to what Jamie was saying. "Harm, don't. Don't listen to him. Let's just go."

Mac walked up to Jamie. "You have no idea how much you hurt me lying to me like that. I trusted you, Jamie, and you took advantage of my memory loss as well as my trust."

"But I did it because I love you."

"You don't love me, Jamie. You're infatuated with me. Because if you truly loved me, you'd see that I belonged with Harm, and you would accept that and be happy for me."

"You don't understand, Sarah, I can give you a better life than he can."

"No, you can't. And for the sake of my relationship with Harm, I can't see you anymore."

"What?! Sarah, NO! Wait!"

But Mac already sat in the wheelchair, and she and Harm were getting out the door, ignoring Jamie's mad rant.

"This isn't over Sarah! I'm not going to give up on you! I'm going to fight for you, that's more than Harm ever did!"

Approx. 1 month later

Harm and Mac were married the following month like they had planned. They were married in a small chapel. It was what Mac wanted. She just wanted a small ceremony with their closest friends and family. Harm's parents were there, as well as the Roberts. Jen, Mattie and Chloe were bridesmaids and Harriet was the maid of honour. Bud was Harm's best man. Admiral Chegwidden and Sturgis also flew down. It was a beautiful ceremony with the bride and groom each writing their own vows.

Mac's memory still hadn't returned completely, and she still had no recollection of her attack, much to Harm's dismay. Mac's been worried about Harm as of late. She noticed that he hasn't been sleeping as much. He's been calling her practically every hour since he returned to work. The police were still looking for Mac's attacker and they haven't made any new breakthroughs. She knew that Harm was terrified her attacker would try to come after her again.

Although Mac had been given the green light to go back to work by her physician, she decided to take an extended leave, although she had to use her vacation time for that. The Navy wasn't informed that memory loss was among the consequences of her attack. Mac knew that having that on her record would end up being detrimental to her career. She was afraid that there would be too much she couldn't remember and that her work would suffer because of it, so she decided to wait a little longer before returning full time. The military frowned upon psychological related traumas, of course they would never admit that, but it was a well known fact. She hoped that her memory would return before she'd be forced to go back to work again.

Mac too was worried that her attacker would come after her again. It was frustrating not knowing the guy's motives… or anything at all for that matter. The conversation she and Harm had with Detective Summers the previous night was less than uplifting.

"I'm sorry folks, but we have no new leads on this guy," the detective said.

"Please tell me you haven't given up on the case," Harm said.

"No, of course not, but we don't have a lot of resources or man power. There were fingerprints found at the scene of the crime, but the guy who attacked Mrs. Rabb obviously did not have a criminal record so his fingerprints were not in the database."

"So, there's nothing you can do?" Harm asked.

"I'm afraid, Harm that unless your wife remembers who did this to her, that we've got nothing."

"How about Jamie?" Harm asked, trying his best to hide his frustrations.

"You know we never had anything on him. We only had the vaguest of circumstantial evidence. It's not even enough to keep him under surveillance. You're a lawyer Mr. Rabb, you know we've got nothing."

"Harm, just because someone's a manipulative liar, it doesn't mean he's capable of aggravated assault," Mac said, taking her husband's hand.

"I still think he could have been the one," Harm said.

"Oh yeah, then how come you haven't beaten him within an inch of his life yet?" Mac asked her husband.

"… Because I don't know for sure. And if I'm going to end up in prison, then it better be the right guy I killed," Harm said, only half-jokingly.

Mac just gave Harm a look that said 'I told you so'.

"Well folks, I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news," the detective said as he stood up and put on his jacket.

"Thank you Detective, we appreciate everything you're doing for us," Mac said opening the door for him.

Late evening

Harm and Mac's bedroom

Harm walked into his and Mac's bedroom after having checked all the locks in their house for a third time. He walked into the washroom and started brushing his teeth.

"Sweetheart, I think you're becoming paranoid," Mac said, following Harm into their washroom.

"I just want to make sure all the locks are secured."

"There's certainly nothing wrong with that, Harm. But I'm not just talking about the locks, which by the way you've checked four times."

"Three, I checked them three times."

"Right… anyway, it's not just the locks. Harm you sleep with one eye open now, so to speak. When you do actually fall asleep for real, you wake up in the middle of the night because you have nightmares. You call me almost every minute of the day when you're not home… In many ways I guess I'm the lucky one. I don't remember anything about my attack."

"Mac, my worst nightmare is losing you. That nightmare almost came true! I need to feel in control somehow. If being a little extra careful helps, then let me indulge in that."

"Harm, I'm not begrudging you any peace of mind… I just… I'm worried about you. Would you talk to a counsellor?"

"Mac, that's really not necessary."

"Please, Harm… for me?"

"Mac, I really don't want to, ok?"

"Harm, you need to talk to someone who's objective here. I know that a lot of it is about me, and I know it's hard for you to talk about it with me… but please…"

"Mac, would you please drop it?" Harm saw the hurt look in Mac's eyes. He quickly added in a much softer tone, "Mac, I don't want to spend tonight arguing, ok?"

"I know, neither do I, but I do worry about you. I'm your wife now. It's my job to take care of you. You know, the little things like making sure you don't forget to eat, or that you get enough sleep. Stuff that you've been forgetting more often lately."

Harm sighed, knowing she was right. "Thanks, hon. What did I do to deserve you?"

"Probably something really horrible," Mac said half jokingly.

"Hey, nobody's allowed to talk about my wife that way… Not even my wife," Harm said carrying Mac out of the washroom.

"Harm, put me down you big oaf!"

"Oh alright, alright," Harm said as he gently laid her onto their bed. "Hey Mac, you left the window open."

"It's hot tonight, Harm. Don't tell me a burglar's going to climb from outside and get in here. Now you're really being paranoid. Besides I like the breeze."

"Ok, I guess we can leave it open… Now where was I?" Harm asked as he began trailing kisses down Mac's neck.

"Harm wait," Mac said, pushing him off her ever so slightly. "I don't want to be a nagger, but I really want you to talk to someone. Will you at least think about it?"

"Alright, I'll think about it… but only for you, Marine."

"Thanks, Harm. I know it's a lot to ask. But I ask only because I love you," Mac said, taking her husband's face in her hands.

There was understanding on Harm's face and Mac was relieved that he wasn't angry at her for pushing. She kissed him, slowly and leisurely at first, but Harm quickly turned the kiss into a passionate one. He began removing her nightgown, while Mac took that cue and removed his shirt. He trailed kisses down her naked body, enjoying the soft, familiar sounds of pleasure coming from his wife. He then covered her body with his own. Harm and Mac spent the night making love, unknown to either of them that they were being watched through their window.

TBC in chapter 12

Ok, I hope I didn't overdo it there with that last scene. I think it's still appropriate for a T rating. Anyway, I hope no one was offended. Thanks very much to everyone for all the feedback. BTW, as I was writing about Harm and Mac's wedding, I realized that I didn't know their religion, so I ignored what kind of ceremony it was. Does anyone know? In Mac's wedding rehearsal with Mic, it looked like she was getting married in a Catholic church, but I don't know about Harm. Anyway, let me know what you think with how the story's going. I do take your suggestions seriously. Cheers!