Maxine was silent; she looked in to Rods curious eyes and smiled, "well… I don't know. I mean I found you so I felt responsible for making

sure you were ok." She shuffled a tire and blushed as she stared at the ground. Rod smirked, 'was she blushing?' He didn't really know how

to respond, he had never had someone care about him before, it was always the same at the CIA, as soon as he got back from a mission it

was, 'Rod hers your next mission.' In fact the only time he was ever around a girl was when it was required to complete a mission. In his line

of work there was no time for "real" dating let alone a full blown relationship. He was silent for a moment until he realized that she was

staring at him and he was still wearing that smirk on his face, "um! Thanks. I appreciate it." He then put on an uneasy smile, 'I appreciate?

Is that the best I could come up with?' he was unsure of how to respond to her. He was not good at talking to girls and now there was one

staring right at him and all he could do was sit there and gawk. Maxine noticed the look on Rods face change from a slight smile to one of

nervousness; "I'm so sorry! Did I say something wrong? I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." He snapped back to reality and began to

blush, "oh! Uh, no I'm fine I just…" "it's ok you don't have to explain." she began to laugh, he began to laugh as well, 'jeez could I be any

more of a dork, first I just stare at her and now I'm blushing and laughing like a lunatic. Get a grip she just a girl, just like all the other girls

I've worked with.' Suddenly Rods thoughts were interrupted by severe pain and a moan escaped his lips, "oh! Man... My engine block,

owh...!" he closed his eyes tight, as the machines he was hooked up to began to beep in alarm. "Rod are you ok?!" "Yeah it's just a little

pain. I'm sure it will…uhg…pass." He stated through clenched teeth. "I'll get the doctor!" she stated as she zoomed out of the room. "NO!" he

screamed but it was too late she was gone. 'Damn it! The Doc. will make her leave.' He realized then that he did not want to be alone; he

was totally venerable for the second time in his life, once during the Cold War when he was injured, and he didn't like it anymore now than

he did then. Suddenly the door flew open as the doctor sped in fallowed by a nurse and Maxine. The Doctor rushed to the monitors to check

over his vitals, his RPM was elevated, but everything ells was normal. "All right Mr. Redline were going to give you something extra for the

pain, your body is metabolizing the Morphine to fast. Nurse Ally get me two cc's of Toradol. You're going to feel a slight pinching sensation in

your quarter panel, okay?" Rod nodded as he watched the Nurse prepare a syringe and pass it to the Doctor. The pain began to slowly

subside but he felt as if he could hardly keep his eyes open. Rod looked at Dr. Lucas with worried tired eyes, he then noticed Maxine

watching with worry on her face. The doctor noticed Rod's gaze fixate on her. "Nurse Ally will you please remove her from the room." Rod

was horrified he didn't want his only comfort to leave, "Maxine…" he tried to mutter but she was already gone. "Mr. Redline?" Rod was not

paying attention to the doctor at all; he was trying to look past him to see where Maxine had gone. "Mr. Redline!" doctor Lucas shouted.

Rod's eyes shot to the Doctor and were now fixed on him. "She will be back tomorrow. Right now you need to rest. Okay?" Rod nodded but

deep down inside he was not sure. The doctor slowly drove out of the room and closed the door. Now Rod was all alone, again, and his mind

began to race. 'What reason did she have to come back, she knows I'm okay so why would she. Damn this is pathetic…..I hope she comes

back tomorrow.' He slowly began to relax; the sedatives combined with the pain killers and the fact that he was just plumb worn out made

him slowly drift off to sleep.

The room was dark all except for the glow of the monitors and a small light fixed above them. Rod had been in and out of sleep all night, it

was impossible to stay asleep with the Nurses going in and out of the room periodically checking his vitals, and because of his line of work

Rod was a light sleeper anyway. Rod heard someone enter the room again, 'it's probably a nurse… but it seems like she just left not too long

ago.' He opened his eyes slightly just to be sure, but there was no one in sight. He then opened his eyes fully the leaned forward a bit but

the room was so dark he could still see nothing. "Hello? Nurse Ally is that you?" Rod was now beginning to worry, he may have been injured

but he was still a spy and he knew someone had come into the room, he could all most feel their presence. "Common! Do ya think I was

born yesterday? I know you're in here so just show yourself." There was a moment of silence before Rod herd a faint, "You caught me." A

small car slowly cruse out of the shadows, Rods face wore a look of shock, "Did you think you would never see me again Rod?" asked the

small car.