A/N: Thanks to Give us Peace for reviewing. Here's the next part, as promised. Will most likely have the fourth and last part up tomorrow.

Part 3:

Meanwhile, he had arrived home, and he quickly parked.

"Lynn?" he called upon entering the house, while divesting himself of his coat and suitcase. He walked into the living room, and found his wife, tears running down her cheeks. "Lynn!" he cried in alarm. Immediately he hurried to her side, and pulled her into an embrace. "Lynn, what's wrong?" he asked softly.

"Oh Oliver," the woman replied, welcoming the embrace, burying her head against her husband's chest. "Roberto had an accident today. He's in the hospital!"

"That's one of your students, right?" Oliver checked, gently rubbing his wife's back. She taught English to foreigners.

"Yes," she managed to choke out.

"Is he injured?" Oliver asked, needing to know whether the young man still lived, or whether he was in critical condition.

"He's broken his leg in two places, and a couple of ribs," Lynn provided the information. "It's my fault. If I hadn't rescheduled the meeting for today, he wouldn't have been there," Lynn continued, sobs coming in spades as she spoke.

"No, Lynn, it's not your fault," Oliver said decidedly.

"But if he hadn't been crossing the street at the moment that car came around the corner, this wouldn't have happened! And he was there at that moment, because I rescheduled our meeting!" Lynn countered.

"Lynn," Oliver said softly as he gently took her chin so he could look her in the eye. "It's not your fault. It could have happened anywhere. Roberto could have been going out to do groceries, or gone to a friend or something! You're not perfect you know." He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "You can't go around feeling guilty over everything. Besides, if he has only broken his leg, and a few ribs, he should be as good as new in time."

Lynn looked down for a moment. "Hey," Oliver said quietly, and she looked up again. "It's not your fault," he repeated softly. She took a deep breath, and nodded. She pressed her head against his chest again, needing some reassurance and comfort. They remained like that for a while.

"Really, Lynn, sometimes you take on too much guilt," Oliver murmured into her hair, then winced, knowing he often did the opposite. Perhaps that was one of the reasons they fit together so well – they balanced each other out. Finally Lynn had calmed down, and she pulled back a little, giving him a small smile.

"You ok now?" Oliver asked, and Lynn nodded. "Yeah. Thanks."

A comfortable silence descended upon them, and they were quite content staying like they were. After a while though, Lynn asked, "So, why were you home early? I usually don't see you for another three hours."

Oliver blushed a little, but told her of Clint and Nancy's engagement. "They reminded me of what I've come so close to losing."

Lynn smiled up at him. "Hey, don't you start beating yourself up over that again. That was years ago. Besides, as you just said, no one's perfect." Oliver rolled his eyes at his own words being used against him, but Lynn continued. "In fact, my grandfather had a saying that hung in the living room. 'Soul-mates are people who bring out the best in you. They are not perfect but they are always perfect for you.'"

Oliver pondered over that for a moment, then asked, "Who said that?"

"Unknown," Lynn replied, amused, because she knew her husband didn't like anonymous quotes. This time though, Oliver was silent for a few seconds, before saying, "Pity. A quote like that deserves the author's name."

He looked down into the twinkling eyes of his wife, and said, "I love you, Lynn Crane."

"And I love you, Oliver Crane."

That evening, they cooked together, enjoying each other's company. After they had finished dinner, and the subsequent dishes, they were comfortably sitting in the living room. Oliver thought back over his day. With a stab of shame he realised how rude he'd been to the engaged couple.

"Lynn," he said, breaking the silence, although the soft tunes of classical music floated from the CD installation. "There's something I have to do."

Lynn looked up.

"When doctor Cassidy and nurse Nichol announced their engagement today, I… I…"

"You weren't your usual polite self?" Lynn guessed, giving him a small smile to soften the sharpness of the comment. Oliver flinched nonetheless, and nodded.

"Do you know where they live?" his wife asked, and again he nodded.

"Well, it's likely they'll be together after today's announcement, and it's not very late yet… why don't you go there now?"

"I could do it tomor…" Oliver trailed off at the raised eyebrow, "or I could do it now."

Lynn grinned, and Oliver sighed, and joined her. Recognising her husband's reluctance, Lynn offered, "Can I come along? I don't think I've met them yet. Or I could wait in the car, if you'd rather I did that."

Oliver smiled lovingly at his wife. She knew him well. He truly did not know what to do without her. "I'd like that," he admitted.

TBC