The next two weeks were pure torture for me. I visited Charlie everyday, but it was so hard for me to see him like that. But as the days went by, he gradually regained his strength. I watched, as he got stronger, with every step he took to regaining his health, I got more and more hopeful.

The FBI had taken a statement from both Charlie and me, and they were unsuccessfully trying to catch Malcolm. They tried everything they could think of, but he remained invisible to the eyes of the government.

I was sitting on the edge of Charlie's bed, one afternoon, just looking at him, feeling so lucky to have him in my life when I made a sudden realization. "I don't have anybody to walk me down the isle." As a girl I had dreamed of my wedding day, a beautiful out door ceremony, where my father would walk me down the isle. But my father lived in India now, and we weren't speaking, anyway. Over the years I had grown so close to Charlie's father Alan, that it was almost as if he were my father. So, his sudden death two years ago had shattered my heart as well as Don and Charlie's. I would've asked Alan to walk me down the isle, but now I didn't have that option.

"I could walk you," Charlie suggested, "I know you like traditional weddings, but I don't want you to walk alone if you don't want to."

Tears filled my eyes at his sensitivity, "You'd do that?"

"Of course I would!" he smiled at me. "I'd do anything for you."

"Like get shot to save my life," I said quietly, thanking him in my own way.

"I'd die for you, Amita," he said and I could tell that he was being completely serious. Tears pricked my eyes.

"You've made me cry a lot lately, Charlie," I joked.

"That's because I think you're beautiful when you cry. Well, then again, you're always beautiful." Tears now flowed down my cheeks.

"Stop it!" I protested, pretending to be angry. Charlie pulled me to him and kissed me. "I love you, Charlie," I murmured. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"I love you too, baby." He said.

A few days later Charlie was released from the hospital, on strict orders from the doctor to stay in bed and get plenty of rest. Despite Charlie's protesting I took another week off of work so that I could help him get settled. "I don't need a babysitter, Amita!" he argued. "I don't want you to feel like my nurse!"

"Don't you think this is hard for me too, Charlie? Do you have any idea what it's like to see you like this? You think that you're the only one suffering because of this, but you're not. Don is, your students are, the entire FBI is a mess without you, and I, well, I'm the reason that this happened to you! This is all my fault; don't you think that I'm broken up too? I'm not taking time off of work because you need a babysitter, it's because I love you and I want to be here for you! Why is that so hard to understand?" The feelings that I'd been building up inside for the last few weeks burst out suddenly. Not knowing what to do at this point- Charlie and I had never fought like this before-I started to leave the room.

"Amita, wait!" Charlie called from our bed. I retraced my steps and hesitantly sat on the edge of the bed. "Come here," he pulled me closer to him. "Baby, why didn't you tell me this is the way you felt? It's not your fault! It's Malcolm's"

"But it is my fault!" I insisted. "If it weren't for me this never would've happened to you!"

"No, if it weren't for the fact that Malcolm is a freak, this would never have happened to me."

I bit my lip, trying to stop crying. I could tell that Charlie was tired, as he had lay back down on the bed. "I love you," I whispered, "I don't know what I'd do without you." With that, I climbed over top of him so that one knee and one arm was on either side of him. I lowered my head down and kissed him with all the passion that I could muster. This wasn't enough for Charlie though. Without breaking off the kiss, he reached up and pulled me down so that my body collapsed onto his. Rolling us over so that he was on top of me he slipped his tongue in between my lips. I reveled at the wonderful feeling of Charlie all around me that I had missed so much in the last few weeks. "Charlie," I whimpered as his lips began to trail down my neck, "Charlie you're supposed to be resting!"

"I feel fine," he insisted, nipping my neck.

I sighed, really not wanting him to stop, but knowing that it was for the best. I pulled his head back up and captured his mouth in one more kiss before pushing him off of me and sliding over a bit on the bed. Looking into his eyes I detected a hint of hurt and immediately felt guilty. "Charlie, I don't want you to hurt anymore than you already are."

"But you make me feel better," she said simply. "Being around you….it makes me feel so lucky and so happy that I don't feel the pain anymore."

I didn't know how to respond to that. Charlie was obviously pouring out his heart to me here and I just sat there with a dumbfounded expression on my face. It was one of those moments where I wondered what I'd done right to have this amazing man in my life. "I love you," was all I could think of to say. But apparently that was enough because Charlie kissed me sweetly on the lips and pulled me down to snuggle with him.

A/N Ok, I know it's short and I know you've been waiting a pretty long time for this, but I was having major writer's block! I'm SO sorry! So, review and I'll have another chapter up soon! I hope.