They had convinced her to go home and rest, but to be honest, she wasn't all that comfortable with the idea. It was one thing to recognize that Mike was safe, and to acknowledge that she needed to rest. It was something else to walk out the door and away from the hospital; away from him. She only agreed to it, after Lt. Ryker promised that he and Terry would stay with him until her return.

Now, she stood in the center of the living room - alone. She hadn't been inside their home since she had walked out the door, clinging to Lt. Ryker's hand. It felt empty. She crossed the floor and peered into the empty bedroom. It seemed a million years had gone by since she'd last been in this room, secure in Mike's embrace. The memory of their day off together, pained her now. She turned away from the bedroom, and decided on a shower. They had made her promise to stay away for four hours. She doubted she would be able to manage that - but a shower and a change of clothes - then she would go back. She could sleep in his room.

Two and half hours later, she stepped in Mike's hospital room to find Lieutenant Ryker, himself sitting beside Mike.

"What are you doing here?" He asked her, his dark eyes widening in surprise.

"I went home." She replied stubbornly.

"For ten minutes!" He shook his head at her.

"Two hours." He glared at her in response, and sighing she continued. "I don't want to be anywhere else. This . . ." She gestured around the small hospital room. "This is home. He's my home."

"Alright, alright." He said rising and putting a hand on her arm. "You win."

"Has he been awake?" She asked him.

"He woke up once. He didn't complain of any pain. He asked where you were and when I told him that we'd sent you home - he said he was glad someone was making sure you were getting some rest."

"I can rest right here. I rest better here with him."

Ryker didn't say anything right away, just smiled, shaking his head at her. "Mrs. Danko, you are, without a doubt, the most stubborn person I have ever met."

"I think you give me a run for my money." She said with an eyebrow raised.

"That might be true." He admitted. He smiled at Jill's surprise at his quick agreement. "Oh, honey," He said. "Sometimes you make me miss my Mary Kate!" He kissed her cheek. "I'm going to go see how Gillis and Webster and doing." He left her watching after him utterly surprised.

***R***

"I'd go home, but Gillis here gets nervous if I'm not around." Terry said as Lt. Ryker sank down into a chair across from the two officers who sat up in the hospital beds. Webster, was sitting on his made bed, while Gillis, was still tucked under the covers.

"Please! I wish you'd leave and then I could spend some quality time with some of these nurses." Willie grinned at Terry.

"If I leave, they'll stop coming in here."

"Actually, I think it is me they are looking for." Ryker said, surprising them both. "Most women appreciate a man of sophistication." They laughed at this.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Terry asked. "Jill will kill you if she comes back and Mike's all alone."

"Oh, she's back already." Ryker sighed. "She went home for two hours! That is one stubborn lady."

"Yep." Terry agreed. "Did she look any better?"

"Some. She's lost that look of sheer terror she's been wearing. I tell you what, Gillis, I am grateful you got Danko out of there. I think we would have lost her too, if we lost him." Ryker shook his head.

"That's for damn sure." Terry agreed. "It's about time you got out of there! I couldn't take one more minute looking at those big, brown terrified eyes." He shook his head at the memory.

"Now, the trick will be convincing her to let Mike back out on patrol." Willie said.

"The trick will be convincing her to let any of you back out on patrol." Ryker said rising. "You boys rest up. I'll be back tomorrow. If Jill comes by you tell her for me, alright. We'll worry about going back on patrol later; give the woman at least a few hours of peace, huh?"

"Yes, sir." Terry and Willie responded.

They watched the Lieutenant go, and Terry was struck by the memory of the first time he'd ever met Lieutenant Edward Ryker. He'd been terrified of the man; he'd been so harsh and intimidating. He still was, but Terry understood that underneath it all, he was fiercely protective and loyal to the men who served under his watchful eye.

"What are you so serious about?" Willie asked him.

"I was thinking about training. Who knew we'd like him so much?" Terry asked with a shrug.

"I'm still scared of him." Willie admitted.

"Oh, me too." Terry agreed. "But not in the same way. Now, I just don't want to let him down."

"Do you think they'll let me go see Mike tomorrow?" Willie asked. "Everyone says he's better, but I'd like to see for myself. Those last few hours in that damn warehouse . . ." He shuddered, remembering. "God! It was awful. He kept asking me to tell Jill . . . It was bad, Terry. He looked so . . .I was sure he was gonna die."

"He didn't." Terry said simply. "As to visiting him, the nurses like me so I'll see what I can do."

"There's only one nurse you are gonna have to convince to let us near him."

***R***

Jill Danko opened her eyes to find her husband smiling at her.

"Hey, sleepyhead." He said grinning.

"Mike!" She sat up rubbing her eyes, and moved to sit beside him on the hospital bed.

"I thought you were never gonna wake up." He said with a grin.

"You should have woke me!" She said horrified that she'd been asleep while he'd been awake. "How do you feel?"

"I've felt better." He admitted. "But I imagine we can find a nurse to look after me."

"I might know one." She said smiling, but then without any warning she found herself crying.

"Hey, hey, Babe." He said reaching for her hands. "It's okay. I'm alright. I'll be fine. Doctors even said so."

"I know. I don't know why I'm crying now!" She laughed even as she continued to cry. "God! It was so awful! I just paced back and forth over and over, holding my breath."

"I'm sorry, Baby. I am." She said nothing, helpless in the grip of a fresh wave of tears. He reached out with gentle fingers, wiping her tears.

"I'll confess it to you now, honey, I was pretty scared myself." He told her softly. "I couldn't think of anything but you, and coming home to you."

Unable to speak, she leaned in close, resting her forehead against his.

"Mike, I don't ever want to be away from you. I couldn't ever lose you." Her voice was a strained whisper.

"You won't." He said trying to reassure her. She sat up, wiping the tears from her face, and he gave her his best smile, trying to somehow erase the hours of fear and terror.

"I thought you were going to go home and get some real sleep." He said changing the subject.

"It was too lonely, there." She admitted. "Everyone I love is here! Terry and Willie aren't home, and you are here. And I couldn't climb into that bed without you."

"I'd rather climb in with you." He grinned up at her with a wink.

"Michael!" She said reprovingly.

"Sorry, Babe. Just telling the truth." He reached out, running his finger along the line of her cheek. "You are so beautiful. I've been dreaming of those brown eyes of yours for the last two days."

"Three." She corrected him softly.

"Four. It didn't stop when they brought me here." He told her. She leaned down kissing him, fighting down a fresh tide of tears.

"You should sleep." She said to him, sitting up, and smoothing the blankets across his broad chest. "Close your eyes, Michael. You need rest."

"I'm half afraid if I close my eyes and sleep, it will all just be a dream and I'll be back in that horrible warehouse, holding onto Willie's grubby fingers, instead of yours." He confessed, sheepishly.

"I'll be right here, sweetheart. I'm not leaving." She said running her cool fingers across his forehead. "Close your eyes, sweetheart."

"You are so beautiful." He said again as his eyes drifted shut. "I'm sorry for scaring you, Jill. Baby, I am."

"I'll forgive you, seeing as how you are still alive." She said softly, watching his blue eyes close. "Don't you dare make me a cop's widow, Michael. I won't ever forgive you."

"I'll keep it in mind, Babe." He said sleepily.

"You damn, well better." She whispered as he drifted to sleep. When he was asleep, she moved to the chair beside his bed, sliding her hand under his.

The door opened, and Nurse Conners stepped into the room. She glanced at Jill, but focused on Mike, checking his vitals and writing on his chart. She finished, clicking her pen shut, and turned to Jill then.

"I hope you don't expect to be off rotation forever."

"No ma'am." Jill said startled by the sharp tone of the head nurse.

"You're one the best nurses who has ever worked under me. I can't have you gone forever."

Surprised by the praise, Jill blushed. "Yes, ma'am."

"That's alright, then. I imagine they'll send him home at the end of week, so I'll put you back on rotation in three weeks."

"Yes ma'am." Jill found she was so intimidated by the tone of the head nurse, she couldn't seem to manage many words. She was too tired.

"You still look a wreck." Nurse Conners said turning to go, but pausing to brush a stray hair that had fallen across Jill's forehead. "I'm so relieved that he is safe. You must be ready to cry buckets. I can see it hiding there behind your eyes." She sighed. "You haven't got your mother any longer, have you?"

"She died when I was a girl." Jill said shocked by the question.

"Your husband's mother?" But Jill shook her head. "That Lieutenant who's always looking after you - does he have a wife?"

"She died long ago." Jill said.

"I suppose I'll have to do." She sighed. "You feel yourself coming unglued, you come and find me. That's an order, Nurse Danko. You can't confess to him how afraid you still are, and everyone else looking out for you are cops; they can't understand it. It's a fear you have to accept and learn to live with. It's the deal you make, if you love a cop."

"Your husband is a cop?" Jill asked, surprised at how clearly the head nurse seemed to understand things.

"My oldest son was." And Jill was stunned by the sorrow in Nurse Conners' voice. "He was killed in the line of duty." She rested her hand on the top of Jill's head. "And I pray to God, I never have to guide you down that path." She leaned down and kissed Jill's forehead.

But rising she was all business again, brusque and sharp. "You got three weeks Nurse Danko, and then I expect to see you rested and back on my floor."

"Yes, ma'am." Jill said quietly thinking there was so much more to Head Nurse Elizabeth Conners than she had ever imagined.