DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

A/N: Thanks everyone for the wonderful reviews so far! I'm glad everyone is enjoying this story. Yes, Sharon is stubborn and we will see how that plays out in this chapter...

Chapter 3

Andy ran down the hallway of the Hospital's Professional Building and found Doctor Fishman's office. He opened the door and saw Emily and Sharon sitting in the waiting area of the office. He took a deep breath, trying to catch it, and made eye contact with Sharon. "Andy," she said his name as he joined them. He took a seat next to her and grabbed her hand, holding it in his. "You didn't have to come," Sharon told him. "Nonsense," Andy immediately told her, still catching his breath as she looked at him.

She didn't want to get into an argument in the waiting area of the doctor's office so she let him hold her hand and she waited to be called. "I called and spoke to his head nurse and told her what I was experiencing, she informed the doctor and told me to come into his office for a look-see," Sharon informed him as he sat next to her. She gave a glare towards Emily who was now sitting across from them. "Don't be mad at her," Andy chimed in before Sharon said anything. "She did exactly what I told her to do," he added, brushing a finger through her hair.

"The team just caught a case, surely you cannot be here when they need you," Sharon pointed out to him. "They're fine, like I said to you earlier, we just got an ID on the victim and we're still running some preliminary things. And, we are still waiting for Doctor Morales to perform his autopsy on the body," Andy reassuring her that he was not missing anything important at work.

"Sharon?" she heard one of the nurses calling her name from the doorway. Sharon stood up and Andy followed next to her as they went inside the office. Emily stayed out in the waiting area. The nurse led them into an exam room and closed the door behind her.

"So, how long have you been feeling dizzy?" the nurse asked Sharon. "Uh, well, it's not all the time. The first time I felt dizzy was when I was in the shower, and my husband caught me, that was yesterday morning. I felt dizzy again yesterday afternoon for a brief moment but it quickly went away," Sharon informed the nurse.

"Okay, any dizziness today?" she asked her. "Yes, I felt dizzy earlier this afternoon and I went to sit down but missed the kitchen chair and ended up on the floor," Sharon told the nurse as she typed on the computer in the room. "And Doctor Fishman placed you on Tramadol for pain, correct?" the nurse asked. "Yes," Sharon sat nervously on the exam table.

"Let me just get your vitals here," the nurse said as she took Sharon's blood pressure and temperature and wrote them down. "Okay, sounds like it may be a medication issue but the Doctor will be in here shortly to take a look at you," the nurse told Sharon and Andy and left the room.

Sharon looked at Andy who was in turn, staring at her. "You're doing too much," he muttered to her and she laughed. "Yeah, like sitting around the house being under the watchful eye of Emily constantly while you're at work is doing too much," she laughed it off again but realized that Andy wasn't laughing with her. "I know you're frustrated, and I know it sucks staying at home, not being able to do anything, I know that, first hand," he quietly told her, his eyes looking down at his hands.

She realized right there that this must have been how he felt each time one of his doctors placed him on light duty or rest while she and the rest of the team did the work. She pursed her lips as she sat there, Andy holding her hand. "I'm sorry I'm worrying you," she whispered to him and he looked at her again. He gave her a slight smile and then the doctor walked in the room.

"Sharon, I understand you're feeling a little dizzy?" Doctor Fishman said as he washed his hands before examining her. "Yes," she answered him as he dried his hands. "Okay, is there a certain time of day when you feel dizzy?" he asked her as he felt her lymph nodes in her neck. "No," she stated as Andy let go of her hand so the doctor could examine her more easily. "Is it right after you've taken the Tramadol or does it take a while for the dizziness to occur?" he asked her as he looked in her ears.

"It's not right after I take it," she answered him as he made his way to the front of her. "Okay, I'm going to listen to your chest, just to make sure everything is good there," he told her as he placed the stethoscope on her and listened. "Take a deep breath for me," he asked her and she did. "Alright, lie back on the table, I just want to feel your stomach. I'm not going to press down but I just want to check and see," he informed her before he touched the area of where her spleen was.

"Any pain or tenderness with me touching lightly?" he asked her as he looked at her face. "No," she simply stated. "Okay, good," he told her and walked over to the computer was located and started to type some things. Sharon then sat back up and Andy resumed his holding of her hand. "I do think the Tramadol was causing your dizziness," he told them as they sat there in the exam room.

"How bad is your pain on a daily basis?" Doctor Fishman asked her. "I would say a 3," she told him as she looked at Andy. "That's certainly down from what you were feeling in the hospital," the Doctor said as he typed some more information. "I'm going to switch you to a different pain medication, with a less potential for side effects. It's called Nucynta. It's like Tramadol, but better. I'm going to place you on the lowest dosage available and just take it for pain, when needed," Doctor Fishman informed her.

The nurse stepped back into the room and waited for the Doctor to be finished. "Okay Sharon, I'm going to take a look at your stitches while you're here and I think we'll be good that you don't have to keep them covered," Doctor Fishman stated as he placed a pair of exam gloves on his hands.

"Okay, lie back down again. I'm just going to lift your shirt and take a look again," he explained as he examined the stitches. Sharon took a deep breath as they removed the gauze pad. "It looks very good, healing very well," Doctor Fishman removed the gauze and cleaned up the dried blood. The nurse handed him some antiseptic spray which he used to wipe the area.

Sharon hissed and held her breath as he did this. Andy held her hand and she squeezed it as he watched. "There, all set. You should be good to take a regular shower now, you don't have to keep them covered," Doctor Fishman explained to both of them as he moved over to examine her left arm.

Andy had to release her hand and he moved over to the other side to allow the doctor full access. The doctor repeated the same thing on Sharon's arm. After he was done, the nurse left and Andy helped Sharon sit up on the table.

"I still want you to rest this week and I will still see you for your appointment next week, alright?" Doctor Fishman stood up and shook Sharon's and Andy's hands. "Yes, thank you Doc," Andy told him and then they watched him leave the room. Andy then helped Sharon step down from the exam table.

The nurse knocked on the door again and poked her head in to make sure everything was okay. "Okay, Doctor Fishman wrote you a new prescription, here it is, and you are all set. Any more problems, please call us," she told them as Andy read over the prescription form.

"Uh, just one question. Should she start this medication tonight or tomorrow?" Andy asked the nurse. "If she has pain later on tonight, take the new medication," she told them and Andy nodded.

Andy walked out of the exam room with Sharon and they walked to the front desk area. Sharon stopped there to see if they needed anything else before Andy held the door open for her and they walked out to the waiting area. Emily stood up when she saw her mom and Andy exit into the waiting area. "So?" Emily asked not wanting to push her mom into telling her.

"They changed her medication and the Doctor still wants her to rest as much as she can," Andy told Emily as they all walked out the door of the office. Sharon glanced at her watch and saw it was almost time for Matthew to be picked up.

"I'll go get Matthew from school, Emily why don't you take your mother home now," Andy suggested. "Andy, you need to get back to work, Emily and I can pick Matthew up no problem," Sharon informed him. "Work is fine with me not there right now," he stated back to her as they stepped outside the building.

Andy let out a breath before he spoke. "Emily can you pull the car around while I talk to your mother," he said to her and she left to go get the car. Sharon was standing in front of the building with her arms on her hips, a sight that Andy had missed. However, he did not miss the look that was now coming from her. "You don't have to treat me like a child, Andy. I'm not going to break," Sharon said in her disgusted tone.

"I'm not treating you like a child. I'm concerned about you because you're my wife!" Andy said in a short tone which seemed to make Sharon even more disgusted. "You don't need to handle me, and I don't need a babysitter," she told him as Emily brought the car up. This all sounded so familiar.

"Huh, well it sure seemed like you were lucky you had one today, otherwise who knows what would have happened if Emily wasn't there!" he scoffed and afterwards, realized that this was not the stress that they needed right now. Before Sharon could say a response to him, Andy opened her car door for her and helped her inside.

"I'll see you at home," Sharon muttered to him and he nodded and closed the car door, watching Emily drive off. He shook his head and looked up to the sky and sighed. He made his way to his car and got in. He drove to the local Walgreens where their information was and handed the prescription note to the pharmacist. "Do you want to wait, it'll be a few minutes," the pharmacist told Andy. "Sure," he said as he sat down on the chairs.

Andy picked up Sharon's prescription and made his way over to Matthew's school. As he walked inside the school, Matthew was already waiting for him by the classroom. "Everything okay?" he asked Matthew as he joined him in the hallway. "Yeah, I just figured I would wait for you or Mom by the door," he said as they walked outside. They got in the car and Andy drove them home.

Meanwhile, Sharon and Emily had arrived home and Sharon went into the family room. "What did you feel like having for dinner?" Emily called out to her mother as she walked away. "If there's some sort of chicken in the fridge," Sharon told her as she sat down on the couch. She grabbed the throw pillow and held it close to her. She didn't mean to snap at Andy as they were leaving the Doctor's office. She had heard all of that before, except it was coming from Andy when he was on medical leave.

Andy was about halfway to their house when his phone rang. He lifted it and saw that Provenza was calling him. He placed him on speaker. "What's up?" he said to Provenza. "How is everything?" he asked him. "Uh, well I just picked up Matthew from school and we are heading home," Andy told him. "Any new information regarding the case?" Andy asked him. "No, I sent everyone home. We'll start fresh in the morning," Provenza said and Andy glanced at the clock. It was almost 6:30 now.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow," Andy told him and then hung up his phone. He pulled into the driveway and opened the garage door. He pulled the car inside and turned it off. He grabbed the new medication from the passenger seat and got out of the car, meeting Matthew on the other side. "Come on," Andy said to him and they walked towards the house.

"You must be really tired Dad," Matthew said as they walked into the house. "Oh, why is that?" Andy asked him as he closed the door behind him. "Because you left for work so early this morning, that's what Mom told me when I came into your room," Matthew said as he took off his backpack and placed it on the hanger and went into the kitchen.

"Hi Emily! Where's Mom?" Matthew greeted her and looked around the kitchen. "She's in the family room, resting a little," Emily told him and he went off in search of her. Andy walked into the kitchen and placed the new prescription on the counter. He saw that Emily was preparing the chicken for dinner. "She's in the family room," she told him. "And no she didn't say anything after we left the doctor's office," she added as if she read his mind. He nodded.

"Need help?" he asked her, not sure if he should see Sharon or not. "I got it Andy, the potatoes are in the oven and I just need to put the breadcrumbs on the chicken," Emily told him as she moved around the kitchen. "Okay, I'm going to take Moxie out then," Andy said as the dog walked into the kitchen. Andy grabbed his leash and Moxie followed him towards the back door.

He stepped out with the dog and wondered how in a matter of hours, they went from happiness to almost bitterness. The last thing he wanted was for Sharon to resent him. She had to have known that all he was trying to do was to make sure she got better. He told her that a million times, it seemed. From when she was in the hospital to their closeness in the family room. He kept walking with Moxie as they made their way down the block.

Matthew joined Sharon on the couch. "Did you have a better day at school today?" she asked him as he sat down. "Yes, I didn't get into any fights today," Matthew said almost sarcastically. "Well, I'm glad to hear that!" Sharon ruffled his hair. "Where's your Dad?" she asked him, almost hoping that Andy would have followed Matthew into the room. Matthew shrugged his shoulders. "I think he took Moxie outside," he stated.

"Hmm, well, remember how we talked about you going to see Doctor Joe?" Sharon said to him and he nodded. "Well, I made an appointment for you tomorrow at 3:30 for you to see him, just to talk," she told him. "Okay," he shrugged his shoulders and continued to sit there with her. Her mind wondered off to Andy. Deep down inside, she knew that he was only trying to help her. That he truly did care about her and wanted her to get better at any means possible, even if he was driving her crazy.

She knew that if the roles were reversed, she would do the same thing to him. Heck, she did do the same thing to him, when he was recovering from his little dust up with the car, when he had his blood clot, when he had his heart scare, and when he had gotten shot. Perhaps he was right, maybe she was trying to do too much. But, she had a hard time being on the sidelines watching everything unfold before her.

It was her need to be in control of everything, and when she got shot and with the subsequent enlarging of her spleen due to that, she didn't feel in control anymore, and maybe that's what bothered her the most. Not Andy making sure that she was okay and tending to every need that she had while he was trying to make her rest. She needed to regain control, and in order to do that, she needed to get better so that the doctor would release her back to work, or at least light duty.

Andy and Moxie came back around the block and went back into the house. The food was almost ready and Emily was still in the kitchen, but Sharon wasn't there. Matthew had just finished washing his hands and then went to set the table. "Where's your Mom?" he asked them. "She's still in the family room," Matthew told him as he brought the plates over to the table. "Dinner will be ready in 5 minutes," Emily told Andy and he went in search of Sharon.

He found her walking towards him in the hallway and he stopped. She looked at him and he didn't know what to do. He thought about what he would say to her as he walked Moxie around the block but everything he thought about went away as he stood there. "Can we talk?" she spoke to him, breaking the silence and he nodded. She then retreated towards the den and he followed her, closing the door behind them.

The next thing he knew, she was pushing him up against the door and kissed him passionately on his lips. He ran his hands up her sides, careful on her left side as they made their way up her body and into her hair. They broke apart when they both needed oxygen to breathe. "I thought you wanted to talk?" he said, catching his breath. "I do," she answered him as she stood there. She leaned forward and kissed him again.

TBC