Jim watched as she walked out, his hearted plummeting into his gut. What had he done? Why had he said those things? Where had all the anger come from? Panic gripped him. She had been so angry…he had seen her aborted slap. They rarely argued and neither had ever had ever been that provoked. Jim knew he had hurt her deeply and he didn't know why. Watching the door, instincts told him to follow her. Without thinking, he propelled himself out of the chair and half limping, half dragging his left leg he made his way across the room. It was painful but he was so intent on his mission, he ignored it. Leaning on the door frame he spotted her at the end of the hall, looking out the window. Her shoulders were shaking; he recognized that she was sobbing.

He stepped toward her but his leg gave way and he grabbed the wall, leaning into it for support. "Sofie," he cried out.

She rotated and seeing the desperation in his eyes, she hurried to him. Hugging him, she held on tightly, afraid he would fall. "Jim, how did you…"

"I couldn't let you go…" He looked frightened and lost.

"I've told you Jim, I'm not going anywhere. Let's get you back to the bed though." Just then the nurse walked up and seeing the situation, helped also. Once he was back in the bed and settled. Sofia took his hand in hers. "You drive me nuts, Jim. I wish you could get it through that think skull of yours that you are the only one for me. But I want to know where that rage came from; it's not you."

"Don't know," he answered disconsolately. "Just came over me…."

Dr. Williams walked into the room, the nurse following him. "Barbara tells me you two have had some excitement."

Sofia sighed. "Yes. Jim was fine and then suddenly he got very angry" Her eyes traveled to the evidence still on the floor by the chair. "I'm afraid I lost my cool and left the room. Somehow he managed to follow me."

Williams' eyes followed hers to the spilled tray. Then he looked from Jim to the doorway, smiling. "Well, I had planned to move you to the rehab unit tomorrow. It seems to be an even better idea now." Then looking at Sofia, he grew serious. "We need to talk about the mood swing though."

Sofia shifted her weight, not sure she wanted to hear what he had to say.

"This is another symptom. Severe mood swings and intense anger go with head injuries too, I'm afraid. I thought perhaps we had avoided that one but I suppose the drugs have masked it so far. But we've been slowly weaning you off of them," he said looking at Jim. "This might not be the only episode. As the brain heals, they should subside but I can't give you a time frame. I will caution you….there will be no warning, just like with this episode."

"Damn," Jim groaned.

Later, someone came to clean up Jim's mess. Sofia sat quietly, thinking about all the doctor had said. She would have to be on guard, ready to weather these episodes and respond to his real concerns. But she also knew that in his rage, he was expressing some very real worries. There was truth in his anger; she had known all along that he worried about their age difference and often struggled with the idea that he was being selfish.

Jim was lost in his own thoughts. Seeing the way Phil had looked at her had frightened him on a very basic level. He knew that she didn't care how Phil looked at her, but someday there might be someone… Would he be able to let her go?

She looked across at him and saw the melancholy in his expression. Standing up, she stood next to him, her hand going to his head, gently massaging his scalp. He closed his eyes, leaning in to her touch, relishing the contact. He longed for the comfortable intimacy that they had enjoyed throughout their marriage, usually after sex but not always. Those were the moments that had come to mean so much to him, feeling her body next to his, so totally connected in body and soul.

As she watched his expression soften and his pleasure at her touch increase, she realized how frustrated she was feeling at not being able to get closer. All of this had frightened her so much and she couldn't take her fears to the one person that always knew how to comfort her, Jim. She knew that if she told him how really scared she was for him, his recovery, it would worry him. And he didn't need any more worry, he had enough.

Truth be told, that wasn't her only frustration. Theirs was a very sensual, physical relationship and her body was missing his. Looking at him in the bed, she tilted her head. "Jim…"

He opened his eyes, recognizing the tone in her voice. A small smile tried to break on his face. His eyes questioned her.

"Can you scoot over a little?"

His eyebrows shot up as the blue of his eyes began to sparkle with mischief. Slowly he edged to his left and then naughtily patted the bed beside him. She let down the rail and crawled in next to him. "You know," she said as her hand smoothed his hospital gown, "these gowns have their advantages."

He looked at her impishly, his hand covering hers. "They do?"

"Easy access."

Jim squirmed a little as her implications sank in. As much as he wanted to respond to her, he wasn't sure that he was able. He realized that one of the things driving his frustration was fear that he wouldn't be able to meet her needs, being paralized and all. However, he found it amazing that she was even interested with him in such bad shape.

Sofia looked at his bandaged and bruised face, observing every shade of purple, blue and green that she could imagine. Still, it was a face she loved, the first one she looked for whenever she walked into a room, the first thing she wanted to see each morning and the last thing she wanted to see at night. She loved that face because it was his face and because the eyes revealed him to her. Right now they told her that he was enjoying this closeness. She snuggled into him, his right arm wrapping around her as she rested her head on his shoulder. "Hmmm, I've missed you," she cooed. He sighed, squeezing her lovingly.

The nurse came in later to check his vitals. Surprised to see Sofia in the bed, she stopped and then smiled. Sofia's head was on his shoulder and her hand was on his chest, over his heart. He looked comfortable and content. Sofia opened her eyes and then signaled to Barbara to be quiet. Barbara winked and turned to leave, turning out the lights as she did.

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I know you found this short; hope you found it sweet too. The question is, did they or didn't they? ...you know, do IT ;-) I'll let you decide for yourself.

I have more planned, do I write it?