Jim gave An directions to the restaurant he'd decided on. Bill had helped him with the arrangements, making sure they'd be seated in a quiet corner and ensuring that the server wouldn't do anything potentially embarrassing for Jim. But still, Jim was nervous. This was his first time to be out in public since losing his sight and his confidence waned as they drove.

Sensing his dread, An tried to make small talk as she drove, trying to relieve his anxiety but it wasn't working. Finally pulling into the parking lot for the establishment, she sighed. Parking her car, she turned off the ignition and turned to Jim. "If you aren't ready for this…" she started to say but he cut her off.

"No, it's okay…I mean, I am nervous…a little but…I want to do this. I want to take you to dinner, for us to have a date," he said, sounding more confident than he felt. Then another thought occurred to him. "But if you don't want…"

"I do," she answered hurriedly. "I have been waiting for many years for this or something like it. But I can wait a while longer if you need to."

Feeling a surge of confidence, Jim smiled. "Then let's go inside. I'll be better once we're inside. I just… well, this is important to me for many reasons."

"Many reasons? Besides going into public?"

"Yeah."

"What other reasons, Jimmy?"

"They're all about you," he said softly. "I've been waiting for this for a long time too."

They walked arm in arm into the small Italian restaurant. Joe, the owner saw them and was beside Jim immediately. "Captain Brass, it is good to see you again. Let me show you and your lady to your table," he said as he led the way to the back corner.

Jim knew what he planned to order. He knew the menu of this place well, one of the reasons he chose it. But he was sure An would need a few minutes to peruse the items. So he ordered wine while she considered her options.

By the time the waiter made it back with the wine, An had made her choice and they ordered. They continued to talk while they waited with An sharing a story about a small restaurant in Los Angeles that this one reminded her of.

Just as she finished her story, Jim heard a familiar voice. "Hello Captain Brass. I am surprised to see you here. I heard that you had been injured," Heather Kessler said in her low sultry voice.

"I was," Jim replied, "but I'm better now."

"That is indeed news," she offered.

"Since when, La…Dr. Kessler. It is Doctor, right?"

"Yes, but we've known each other far too long for such formalities."

In truth, Jim had matched her opening tone. She'd called him Captain Brass so he'd believed she wanted things on a more formal footing. "Yeah well, I didn't hear you calling me Jim."

"My apologies."

Jim could picture her surveying An, wondering what the connection might be. He really didn't care what Heather Kessler thought about anything but he didn't want An getting the wrong idea. But it was also obvious that Heather wasn't going away until her curiosity was satisfied. "An, this is Dr. Heather Kessler. Our paths have crossed on some cases that I've worked. Dr. Kessler, An Trang…" he wasn't sure how to introduce her to the dominatrix.

Sensing Jim's uncertainty, An filled in. "Jim and I have been friends for many years."

Jim could feel Heather's gaze on them. "Friends," she said thoughtfully.

Jim could feel the blood rising as her implications sank in. "Yes, friends," he growled. "And since when do you care what happens to me?" he bit out.

"Well, you are one of Vegas' finest. Of course I care," she said in that dripping voice that always grated Jim.

"Okay, so you've shown your concern. Now if you'll excuse us, we have some catching up to do. Don't you have some milquetoast you have to go dominate?" he snapped testily.

"Ouch, someone's claws are sharp tonight," Heather cooed. "I am glad to see that you have recovered…Jim. I hope to see you again soon. Our encounters are always so…interesting."

"Yeah…whatever," he answered, rolling his eyes.

He listened as she walked away and then felt An lean over. "Who is that woman?"

He debated keeping his answer short, not wanting to expose her to that part of his life. But quickly he decided that would be a mistake. If he wanted this to work he needed to be upfront with her. "She used to have a place called Lady Heather's Domain where she ruled as a dominatrix. She always claimed things were on the up and up but if you ask me, it was little more than a bordello. We had a few cases that involved her employees or people close to her, once we even investigated an attack on her."

"But you said she is a doctor?"

"Of Psychology. Now she's a sex therapist. Only a step away from her former profession, if you ask me. But she did get out of the business and is trying to play it legit. She has a granddaughter and I guess she decided that wasn't the best business if she wanted to see her granddaughter"

"You sound as though you admire her?"

"Admire her? No. She's a smart woman and all but…no. Because she so is smart and she had the chance to make better choices. Instead she went for the seedier side of things. She was interesting, for awhile, but…well, only because she was so far out there and she got under the skin of one of my friends. Besides, whenever her name pops up, trouble is usually close behind."

"Ah," An said simply.

And then it hit Jim like a two by four on the head. An was jealous on some level. "You don't think…she and I…we never…"

He heard the soft chuckle that escaped An. "I am happy to hear that. She is very beautiful. And I am not sure what I thought when she came to the table. But I am glad you and she never…"

Suddenly Jim felt guilty, very guilty about the years he'd wasted chasing skirts; even guiltier about marrying another woman when this one had obviously turned down any opportunities she'd had because she'd hoped he would reappear one day. But he'd always assumed that book was closed to him after he left Vietnam, that she'd moved on, married one of the villagers or something. He'd never dreamed that she had tried to wait for him…never lost faith in him.

The meal was quiet, in part because of Jim's onset of guilt and also because he had to concentrate to be sure the food actually made it to his mouth. He didn't want to be an embarrassment for her, shoveling his food and spilling half of it.

When they'd finished eating, Jim had recovered some of his confidence and settled some of his guilt. "I hope…I mean, I don't think I made too much of a mess of things," he said lightly, hoping it was the truth.

He could hear the smile in An's voice as she replied. "No, you did very well. Except there is…here, let me help you," she said as he felt the light touch of her fingers on his chin. The soft feel of her napkin followed as she dabbed a spot on his face, between his chin and his cheek. Her touch felt good and he briefly wished he'd made a bigger mess of his face. As the pressure of her touch lightened and he realized she was almost done, he reached up and grabbed the hand that held his chin. Covering her tiny fingers with his large paw, he pulled them to his lips, gently kissing each one.

"Thank you," he said almost breathlessly.

"For what?" An asked, genuinely surprised.

"For that, for tonight, for…" he shrugged, "having faith in me even though I don't deserve it."

"Jimmy," she whispered, her voice full. "You did deserve it… you have saved my…our family. It is I who should thank you."

They lingered over the last of the wine and then after he paid the bill, Jim let An lead them back into the parking lot. They had almost made it to the car when he heard hurried shuffling feet behind them.

Instinctively he turned, pushing An behind him. But of course he couldn't see who was approaching or discern their intention.

"Aw, ain't that cute Mickey…he's tryin' to protect her."

Jim tilted his head, trying to use his hearing to get a location on the guy.

"Yeah…real sweet if ya ask me," another voice sounded just to the left of the first one. Jim guessed them to be about ten feet away, too far for him to be very effective.

"Makes me wonder what's so special about the little chink," the first guy said menacingly.

Jim felt An tense behind him. "Jimmy," she whispered, "let's just go."

"Yeah Jimmy, why don't you just go…after ya give us what's in your wallet there," the leader said.

Jim started to reach for his wallet. "Okay, but I don't have much cash left after dinner," he told them.

"That's okay," the second one said. "The chink'll make it up to us, won't you honey?"

The hairs on the back of Jim's neck bristled. "Look guys, you can have my cash, the credit cards…whatever, but you don't touch the lady."

"Lady," the leader scoffed. "She ain't no lady, she's just another one a them chink whores…"

Listening intently to the location of the voice, Jim tried to push back his anger. He wasn't exactly in a position to take these two on. "An," he spoke softly, "get in the car."

"Yeah," the follower said eagerly. "It'll be more comfortable on the back seat than on the ground."

Jim realized the second guy had stepped closer. Both men were moving closer. If he could just get An in the car, he might have a chance to keep her from being hurt. He heard her unlock the door and open it. He also heard the shuffling feet moving her way. The car door slammed and Jim hoped An was using her cell to call for help. After that, he was too busy to think about much else.

As the follower moved to Jim's right, Jim moved to block him. The leader moved straight at Jim who used his boxing experience to take a blind jab at him while winding up for a swing at the other man.

He had the pleasure of feeling his left fist connect before all hell broke loose and he went down. He knew he didn't stand a chance but he was trying to buy time. He heard the car horn start to blare just before things went dark.

When consciousness crept back over him, Jim wondered what the hell had happened. And then it hit him as surely as the blows the two perps had laid on him. He pushed himself up trying to get to An. "An?" he called out.

"It's alright Captain Brass," Joe said at his right ear. "She's fine. Callie is with her inside. We heard the commotion and I brought a couple of my waiters out. Those guys took off before we could get to them. Big suckers though. You shouldn't have tried to take them on."

"Didn't have much choice," Jim said as he ruefully rubbed his head. "But An is okay?"

"Yeah…upset but okay. She'd already called 911 by the time we got out here." As if to prove his point, sirens sounded in the distance.

"Your lady friend was pretty pissed," Joe continued. "You're going to get an earful when she gets back out here."

"Why…why'd Callie take her inside," Jim asked, trying to make sense of things.

"Had to do something; she was trying to chase down those two thugs."

"What? She what?" Jim exclaimed.

"Yeah, came out of the car and took off after them. Jason had to run her down and stop her. She was so upset, I had Callie and Jason walk her inside…promised Tony and I would stay here with you in case those bums came back."

Jim shook his head in confusion, which was a mistake. His responding groan was muffled by the sound of the emergency vehicles pulling in though.

An hour later, Jim sat on a gurney in the ER. "Hell no," he bellowed. There was no way he was going to spend the night in the hospital.

"Please Mr. Brass," the ER resident begged. "We need to be sure you are okay, especially since you blacked out and especially after your recent head injury."

"No. I'm not spending another damn night in this damned hospital. I just got out and I'm going to stay the hell out!"

"No you are not," Dr. Taylor spoke gruffly from the doorway. "You are staying here overnight and longer if necessary. We need to run another scan and see if your latest incident did anymore damage to your already scrambled brain. What made you decide to take on two thugs, Jim?"

"They um… they were trying to rob me."

"So give them your wallet," Dr. Taylor said acerbically.

I was going to but then they threatened the lady I was with."

"You mean that little Oriental firebrand that one of the nurses is corralling in the waiting room?"

"Uh…An?"

"She's the same woman who visited you everyday when you were here before isn't she?"

"Yeah. I took her out to dinner…well, she drove but…"

"I knew you were friends, but I didn't realize she was worth getting killed over," the doctor quipped.

Jim bristled. "I'm a cop…was a cop, I mean. It's my sworn duty to protect her."

His voice softening, Dr. Taylor replied. "And even more because it was her, right?"

Jim shrugged. "Yeah." The letting out a sigh, Jim broached his main worry. "So you think I could've messed up the recovery? I might be…blind forever?"

"Don't know yet what might have happened but I seriously doubt you've made anything permanent, which is one reason why you should stay here. Let me run the scan and we'll go from there. Other than a nasty shiner and a bruise on your jaw, everything looks okay on the surface but we won't get a whole picture without that scan."

"Okay, I'll stay," Jim agreed, defeated.

"Just give me a day or two, Jim," Dr. Taylor said gently. "Then we'll kick you out of here if everything checks out."

"Do you think…can An come in? I'd like to …see her," Jim said sheepishly.

Taylor chuckled. "I'm sure the nurse won't mind at all."

Jim heard An's footsteps and felt it when she approached him. "Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I think so. They want to keep me overnight. Dr. Taylor wants to run another scan just to be sure I didn't break my brain. An, I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I couldn't protect you…" Jim said abashedly.

"I am fine, Jimmy Brass. You are the one who took the beating, remember? You kept them away for me to get in the car and call help to come. You protected me, but even if you didn't it would still not be your shame."

"It's my job…as a detective and as a…a…" He couldn't decide how to finish.

"As what?"

"A friend…."

"I hope that we are more than friends, Jimmy," she whispered as she stroked the uninjured side of his face.

Relaxing for the first time since he'd heard the two thugs coming at them, Jim smiled. "Me too."

Didn't really set out to land Jim back in the hospital. I will admit though that I enjoyed writing An's reactions to things. Since she didn't even make an appearance for many chapters, I feel like I need to bring her more into focus. So how am I doing?