"I knew him in college," I began tearfully, "we had some classes together. He asked me out one day, and I said no. He got really mad, but I didn't really think anything of it. Then, that night, I was walking back to my dorm. It was dark, and I was alone. He grabbed me from behind and…. and he beat and raped me." Once again, I began to sob uncontrollably.

Don reached out and hugged me. "Oh, Amita, I'm really sorry. Did he ever get caught?"

"Yeah, a couple months later. He was thrown in jail, but he got released two weeks ago. When he saw me, he said that I was going to pay with my life, because I ruined his."

"Does Charlie know?"

"No! And you can't tell him!"

"Why not?" Don asked genuinely confused.

"Because…. whenever I think about what Malcolm did to me, I feel dirty. I don't want Charlie to think that I'm dirty, too."

"Amita, you know he would never think that. He loves you!"

"I know…but I feel so gross and unworthy…." I trailed off.

Just at that moment, nurse walked into the waiting room. "Is there someone here for Charles Eppes?" she questioned. She looked at me. Don and I both jump up and walked to her. "Are you Amita?" I nodded "He's been asking for you. Come right this way." She said, leading us down a hallway.

"Is he ok?" I asked nervously.

"We managed to get the bullet out of his chest. However, he lost a lot of blood and we had to do some emergency surgery to correct the problems." I tensed up with fear. "But, he is now doing well, and is recovering." She stopped outside of a door. "Only one at a time please," she said walking away, "Let me know if there's anything he needs."

Don and I looked at each other. "You go in first," Don said.

"No, you're his brother, you should go."

"He's been asking for you. Go on ahead."

"Ok." I opened the door and walked it. Charlie lay in a bed in the far corner of the small room, IV's hooked up to him, heart monitors beeping and a large bandage was visible on his chest. The moment I saw him, I began to cry again.

"Hey, hey, don't cry." He said as I sat down in a chair next to his bed. "It's ok. Everything's ok." I nodded and he was quiet for a moment. "Amita, who was that guy?" he asked finally. I knew that this subject was bound to come up, but I still wasn't quite ready for it.

"His name is Malcolm Burnes." I began quietly. "I knew him in college. It's a really long story, but it comes down to this. He asked me out one day…." I began to retell the story I had told Don, pausing every now and then to take a deep breath. Charlie, as weak as he was, reached out and held my hand. "…So he was eventually caught and thrown into jail," I finished.

"Then why was he here today?"

"He got out two weeks ago," I responded not wanting to look Charlie in the eye.

He lifted my chin until he was looking right into my eyes. "Amita, honey, why didn't you tell me about any of this?"

I burst into tears. "Because I thought you wouldn't love me anymore," I gasped between sobs.

"Amita! Why would you think anything like that? You know that I love you, and that I always will!" He reached out and touched my face affectionately.

I nodded, not being able to say anything through my tears. Once I had calmed down, Charlie broke the silence. "Is Don here?"

"Yeah," I answered.

"Just out of curiosity, did you tell him that I proposed?"

"No, I wanted to tell him together."

"Why don't you go get him and we can tell him now?"

"The nurse said that you're only allowed to have one visitor at a time." I responded.

"I'm sure she won't mind…after all it'll only take us a minute to tell him!"

"Ok," I agreed reluctantly, getting up to get Don.

"Hey, man! How ya feeling?" Don asked, his FBI training helping him keep his cool.

"Fine…just fine." Charlie replied, glancing over at me. He took my hand once again. "Amita and I have something to tell you." He said. "Go ahead, baby, tell him."

I glared at Charlie, not wanting to be the one to tell Don. "Well…. this afternoon, before… everything happened, Charlie proposed, and I said 'yes'." I said in a rush.

"Wait? You're getting married?"

"That's normally what you do after you propose, Don," Charlie said sarcastically.

I held my breath, not knowing what his reaction was going to be. "Wow! That's great, guys! I'm happy for you." I let my breath out.

"I think I'll let you too have a few minutes," I said. Kissing Charlie gently, I walked out of the room. Once in the hall, I leaned up against the wall and took a deep breath. As ecstatic as I was that Charlie was alive, I was terrified that something would go wrong and he'd be taken away from me.

A/N Another slight cliffie, but this one isn't nearly as bad as the other one. Thanks to all my reviewers (feel free to click that little review button down below) and I'll update soon!