Author's Note: New chapter! I was really tired and out of it when I was writing this, so hopefully it's okay… Keep reviewing! Your feedback is keeping me motivated to continue writing!

It was late evening, and Jim and Melinda had just finished eating dinner. Jim was doing dishes, and Melinda decided to go and take a bath. She went upstairs and into the bedroom to get some clothes that she could put on after she got out of the tub. She was rummaging through her dresser, when she felt a prescence in the room. Turning around slowly, she found herself staring at someone she hoped she'd never see again.

"Romano." She said angrily.

"Hello, Melinda." Romano replied. His voice made the hairs on the back of Melinda's neck stand up. She shivered, and took a step back.

"What do you want?" She asked.

"Don't you know? I want you." Romano said, and he laughed evilly.

Just then, the bedroom door slammed shut. Melinda jumped. Her heart was pounding, but she refused to let Romano see her fear.

"Leave me alone!" Melinda shouted.

"I'm sorry, Melinda, but I can't do that." Romano said calmly. "You see, I've been trying to get you all along. Gabriel, Tom Gordon… They were both working for me. But they both failed. So I tried a different approach… I was there when that detective shot your husband. That was my doing. I thought that with Jim dead, it would be easy to get you on my side. But you two had to break the rules…. So now I must take matters into my own hands."

Jim was finishing up the dishes when he heard a loud noise coming from upstairs. The door slamming. He turned off the water, and listened. He could faintly hear Melinda shouting, and then nothing. Alarms went off in his head, and he ran to the stairs.

"Melinda?!" Jim yelled.

Melinda stared at Romano, growing more fearful each second. Suddenly, the room started shaking. A mirror fell off the wall and shattered. Melinda screamed. Romano only laughed.

Jim flew up the stairs two at a time, and ran straight to the bedroom door. He tried to turn the knob, but it was locked. He pounded on the door with his fist.

"Melinda? Open the door!" He shouted.

Then, he heard something inside the room crash and break. He heard Melinda scream, and his panic escalated.

"MEL!!!" He yelled. "Melinda, speak to me! What's happening?! Mel!"

By now, Jim was throwing all his weight against the door, trying to get it open. But as hard as he tried, it wouldn't budge.

Melinda cowered in the corner as the windows broke, exploding into shards of glass that flew every which way. A strong wind blew through the room, blowing the covers right off the bed, and sending loose clothing flying.

"STOP IT!" Melinda screamed.

Romano appeared directly in front of her, so they were face to face. "This is only the beginning." He growled. "You will be mine."

He disappeared just as a lamp came shooting across the room, heading directly towards Melinda. She shrieked and covered her head with her arms. She tried to duck, but wasn't quick enough. The lamp hit her like a ton of bricks and broke into pieces, as Melinda fell to the floor.

Jim heard everything that was happening in the bedroom as he continued desperately trying to break down the door. He took a few steps back, mustered all the energy he could, and kicked it as hard as humanely possible. Finally, it splintered and flew open, bouncing off the wall it hit on the inside.

Jim rushed into the room, and saw Melinda lying on the floor. She was curled tightly in a ball, her arms covering her head protectively, shaking so badly that she was nearly convulsing. There was a deep gash on her right arm, and it was bleeding profusely. Jim threw himself down beside her, and carefully scooped her up, pulling her into his lap. He moved her arms so he could get a look at her face.

"Mel…" He said, trying to keep his voice steady.

Melinda looked up at him with glassy, unfocused eyes. She was in shock. And losing quite a bit of blood from the wound on her arm. Jim happened to spot one of his shirts in his peripheral vision. He quickly grabbed it, and used it to apply pressure to the cut. This caused Melinda to gasp and wince in pain.

"I'm sorry, babe. I'm sorry… I need to stop the bleeding." Jim said.

"Jim." Melinda said fearfully. "Romano… He trying to get me on his side. He's been watching me all this time. Everything bad that's happened is because of him. He… he…." She stopped, and gasped as she began to realize how much pain she was in. She felt weak, and was starting to feel really lightheaded.

"Mel, slow down…" Jim said. "Slow down. It's gonna be okay. But right now I think we need to get you to the hospital."

"No." She whispered. "No hospital. I'm fine."

Jim looked at her worriedly. She was getting paler by the second. He knew that she wasn't 'fine'… And so did she, no matter how tough she was trying to be.

"Yeah, I'm not buying it." Jim said. "Come on, we gotta go."

Jim draped Melinda's unhurt arm around his neck, and he kept his arm supportively around her waist as he helped her to her feet. She swayed a bit, and Jim tightened his hold on her.

"Are you okay?" Jim asked.

"Yeah, I…" Melinda said dazedly, trailing off before finishing her sentence.

"Mel? Honey?"

The next thing Jim knew, Mel was falling into his arms.

"Melinda!" He cried out, catching her in a firm hug; then he quickly lifted her, cradled her close to his body, and studied her anxiously. Her eyelids were fluttering. She weakly moved her head to rest against his shoulder. He could feel her slow and shallow breaths against his arm.

"Jim." She whispered.

"Hang on, honey." Jim said frantically. "You're gonna be okay."

Ten minutes later, Jim was rushing through the doors of Mercy Hospital with Melinda unconscious in his arms.

"I need some help… NOW!" Jim shouted.

A doctor who was standing by the reception counter hurried over.

"What happened?" The doctor asked, gesturing for one of the nurses to bring a bed over.

"A tree branch broke through the bedroom window, and she was standing underneath the glass when it caved in." Jim lied, as he was lacking a more probable, earthly explanation.

A nurse pushed a bed over to them, and Jim gently set Melinda down.

"Alright." The doctor said quickly. "What's her name?"

"Melinda." Jim replied. "Melinda Gordon."

"Are you her husband?" The doctor asked, looking at Jim.

Jim was about to answer yes as a reflex, but then he remembered… As far as the rest of the world was concerned, Jim Clancy was dead. He was Sam Lucas now. He and Melinda were no longer married in a legal sense.

"I'm…" Jim stumbled for words. "Her boyfriend. We kind of live together."

The doctor nodded, and turned his attention back to Melinda. He lifted her eyelids, checked her pupils, and then took a quick look at her injured arm, before turning back to Jim.

"We're gonna take her to get stiched up. Just hang tight here for a while. Someone will come and let you know when you can see her."

Jim nodded, and watched as they wheeled Melinda away from him. It was gonna be a long night.

A/N: Poor Melinda... I'm so mean.