Thank you for your patience-life has gotten very busy, so my writing time has suffered, but I'm still working on the story and will keep posting. Thanks to everyone who has been reading and I hope you enjoy. - Rachel

Rayna stood for a moment, unable to answer Bucky. Did the world hate her? Why was all of this happening at one time?

"Can you handle it, Buck?" she asked. "I just don't think I have an ounce of anything left in me to deal with it."

"What do you want me to do?" he asked.

"Sue her ass," Rayna replied.

She ended the call with Bucky and looked over at Deacon's room where Beverly continued to hold court. She was never going to get that woman out of there willingly. She looked over at the nurse's station and shot a questioning look, gesturing with her head toward Deacon's room.

The nurse smiled, understanding Rayna immediately, nodded her head and got up to go in and let Beverly know it was time for Deacon to rest.

She pulled her contacts up again on her phone, this time dialing Tandy. Her sister answered on the second ring.

"Hey," she said as Tandy answered. "Where are you?"

"We're just getting ready to come into town," her sister answered.

Rayna looked at her watch and then down the hall. "Bring the girls up-they'll be able to see Deacon for a minute, but then I think we're going to need to go find out what's going on with Teddy."

There was a pause. "Have you spoken to him, Rayna?" Tandy asked.

"No. But we must be able to find out what's going on. Do you have anyone you can call?" she asked her sister.

"Yeah, I can try a couple people," Tandy replied. "Let me get up there and we can talk."

Rayna slipped her phone back into her front pocket and leaned up against the wall, unable to fight her eyes from closing.

"Rayna? Might we talk for a moment?"

She stood back up, opening her eyes to find Caleb Rand standing in front of her. He invited her a few steps down the hall to a consult room. They walked in and each took a seat.

"I just wanted to talk a bit more about what we might see and expect in the next couple of days," he explained. "So, we will discontinue the cooling therapy later today."

"And then you wake him up?" she asked.

"Yes and no," the doctor replied. "We'll reduce his sedation and see how he does, monitor his breathing and see what he's able to do on his own."

"So you can take him off the respirator?" she asked.

The doctor shook his head. "Probably not, at least not right away. We'll continue to monitor him very closely, see if he's triggering the vent with his own attempts to breathe, but absent that, we'll keep him on full life support for the first 72 hours."

"And after that?" Rayna asked, not sure if she wanted to know.

"After that, it's a conversation with his family," the doctor replied. "We'll need to find out what his wishes are. But, that's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"About what?" Rayna asked.

Caleb looked down at the chart in his hands, then back up at Rayna. "You and Deacon didn't do any paperwork did you?"

"What kind of paperwork?" she asked.

"An advanced care directive? A medical power of attorney?"

Rayna shook her head. "But Maddie is his daughter? Doesn't that give me some kind of say?"

Caleb shook his head. "Not since she's a minor and you aren't married. And without a document telling me otherwise, I'll have to defer to his closest adult blood relative."

"Beverly," Rayna said slowly.

The doctor nodded. "I'm telling you this, because I've seen things get very tense within families in situations like this one and for everyone's sake, including Deacon, I hope it won't turn out that way this time."

Rayna sighed and shook her head. "Me too." Her phone beeped and she looked down. "The girls are here. Is it okay if they come up to see Deacon?"

Caleb nodded. "Of course. I think that would be good for everyone."

They stood up and started walking toward the door.

"Thank you," Rayna said as he held the door for her.

"Of course," Caleb replied. "But next time I come to find you, I hope it's with good news."

A weak smile crossed Rayna's face and she nodded. "Me too."

Rayna held her arms out as the girls came down the hall toward her. "Come here and hug me. I need you," she said as she pulled her daughters close to her. After a moment, they released their embrace.

"Okay, c'mon," she said as she led them down to Deacon's room. "He's still sedated, but I know that I could tell when y'all were around me when I was asleep and I'm sure he's gonna be happy to hear your voices and feel your hands on him."

She pulled open the door and the girls walked in and went straight up to the bed where Deacon lay.

"I love you, Dad," Maddie said as she leaned in and kissed Deacon on the cheek.

Daphne slid in next to her sister and took Deacon's hand in her own. "We can't wait for you to be back with us, Deacon. We miss you and we need you to get better."

Rayna stepped back in the hall where Tandy was on the phone. She nodded at Rayna, said her goodbyes and hung up.

"I was able to get through to Dash," she told Rayna. "It sounds like Teddy's gonna take a plea deal. They're going to hold the hearing this afternoon, but if you go down there now, he can let you see Teddy."

"Can you stay with the girls?" Rayna asked. "I'd like to talk to him alone first, see where his head is at before I put them in the middle of it all."

Tandy nodded.

"Dash say anything else?" Rayna asked.

Tandy shrugged. "He did, but I'm not sure it makes any sense."

"What did he say?" Rayna asked.

Tandy shook her head. "Something about how there's no greater sacrifice than the one a father will make for his daughters."

"Well, for once I wish he'd just act like a father and behave in a way that didn't require him for sacrifice himself," Rayna shot back.

"I got the sense he wasn't just talking about Teddy," Tandy replied.

"Is this still about Daddy? Is Teddy a part of all that?" Rayna asked.

Tandy shook her head again. "Your guess is as good as mine, Rayna."

Rayna waited next to the small table in the interview room while they brought Teddy up from his holding cell. It reminded her all over again of visiting her father in prison. It all felt so unreal.

The door opened and Teddy walked in, his head bowed, wearing an orange jumpsuit. He looked nothing like the man she'd shared her life with for so many years. He walked over and took a seat on the chair across from her. The guard moved to the corner, seemingly out of earshot, but in reality she knew they should not say anything they didn't want the US Attorney's office to hear.

"Are you okay?" she finally asked.

Teddy looked up at her and nodded.

"And you're taking a plea?"

He nodded again and cleared his throat. "It seemed like the best option when I talked to my attorney. It...it should get me out in about five years."

Five years. Maddie would be grown. In college. Or on the road. Daphne would be Maddie's age-the awkward transition between childhood and adulthood.

"Do you want me to bring the girls to see you?" she asked.

He shook his head, then nodded. "I...I hate to have them see me like this, but Ray, I don't know if I can do it if I can't see them."

Rayna nodded. "We'll figure it out. They're heartbroken."

"How did they find out?" he asked, finally looked up at her.

Rayna took in a deep breath. "We, uh...we were at the hospital."

"With Deacon? Is everything okay?"

Rayna nodded, then shook her head, her eyes filling with tears. "He, uh...he had his transplant but there was a complication. He's...he's in a coma. His heart stopped."

Teddy reached over to take her hand.

"No touching."

They both looked up, suddenly remember the guard in the corner. Teddy pulled his hand back.

Rayna looked at Teddy, a flash of uneasiness moving through her as she considered his offer.

"I mean it, Rayna-marry me. We can raise the baby, start a life together. I love you and I know...I know you'll love me."

But the problem was, she didn't. She didn't know if she'd ever really love him. Just like she didn't know if this baby was his. Actually, she was pretty sure that both things weren't true.

Even after everything that had happened, deep down, she still loved Deacon and Deacon only and the tiny life that had begun to grow deep in her-well, she was pretty sure that was a part of Deacon, too.

But this would solve a lot of problems. And it also allowed her to keep a piece of Deacon with her, even now when everything with him seemed so hopeless. If they couldn't be together, she'd have his child.

She nodded, slowly. Teddy threw his arms around her and pulled her tight.

That was the thing about Teddy-chances were, he'd never hurt her. But the thing that made her worry the most, that was causing the uneasiness was that she wasn't sure she could promise the same.

"Did I...did I cause all this?" Rayna asked. "I should have never said I'd marry you, it wasn't fair, you were a good guy, Teddy and now this...and Deacon? Why did he get sick? Why did it take so long for him to tell me? We could have gotten the transplant sooner, maybe he wouldn't have been so weak…"

"Stop it, Rayna," Teddy said, his voice stronger than it had been earlier. "Even now...knowing everything I do...I wouldn't change it. I'd still marry you. I hope I'd make difference choices, but I'd never do anything that would mean we wouldn't have our girls.

"And I'd put my money on Deacon," he added. "That man's way too in love with you and way too stubborn to give up now. All those years you were with me and he'd just stand back there, doing what he needed to do to stay in your life, on your terms. He never gave up on that love, Ray. He won't do it now."

Rayna looked over at him, the tears once again threatening to spill from her eyes. "Thanks, Teddy. I hope you're right."

"I've been wrong about a lot of stuff in my life, Rayna, but one thing I've never been wrong about is you and Deacon."

TBC