Chapter 8

AJ stood there a minute just staring at her, ever so grateful that he'd arrived in time; but still with so many unanswered questions on his mind. He didn't know what was ending her life so prematurely, but she looked peaceful at the moment. Sarah wasn't hooked up to a myriad of machines. He was surprised to see that there wasn't even an IV. She didn't appear to be in pain, she in fact looked perfectly normal except for a slight redness in her face. Maybe it was a sign of fever?

Quietly crossing the room, he lightly touched her forehead. She didn't feel warm at all to his touch, but even that light pressure had stirred her from slumber.

Her eyes fluttered open and at first Mac thought she might still be dreaming. She couldn't remember the number of times she had imagined AJ looking at her with the love that she saw in his face now. But as her eyes focused more, she became aware of the sterile hospital room they were in and she knew she had to be awake. Never, even in her oddest dreams, had they taken place in a hospital room.

"Admiral? What are you doing here?" she croaked. Her throat was dry and still husky from sleep.

'She sounded so weak!' he thought as he gently pressed a finger to her lips. "Shhhh, don't try and talk. All that matters is that I got here."

Shocked at the intimacy of his touch, she still managed to ask past his silencing finger, "How did you know?"

"Chloe told me," he replied.

"How?"

"She sent me a letter."

"Letter? But I have only been here since last night!" she protested.

"It doesn't matter. All that matters is, I'm here," AJ assured her.

"I'm glad to see you, but I don't understand why you came."

"She told me about what you told her at Thanksgiving."

"What I said?" Mac was even more confused now, and was still trying to piece together how Chloe could have sent him a letter about her being in the hospital when it had just happened last night. The fact that this letter had somehow gotten AJ to come back to Virginia from where ever his baseball tour had taken him most recently really baffled her.

"Your wish…" he trailed off, not sure how to admit what he knew to be her innermost desire.

As realization of what he was talking about hit her, Mac muttered, "Oh no!" She was torn between her desire to kill her little sister and her wish that the ground would open up and swallow her whole. Since Chloe wasn't there, and the ground didn't seem willing to cooperate, she chose flight as her next best option. Unfortunately, she was still stiff and sore from the car accident that had put her there. All she could manage to do was turn her head away as she tried to struggle free of the covers.

"Sarah, please stop," AJ requested as he placed a hand on her shoulder to hold her back from getting out of the bed. "I'm glad that Chloe did write to me! I would have been devastated to return home only to find out I was too late to have an opportunity to see you."

"Too late?" she groaned as it flashed through her mind that not only had her little sister told him she wanted him to kiss her, but that she must have added it was because she was dying! Then to add fuel to the fire, he had got here to find her in the hospital, which could have only added to the misunderstanding. She had to clear up this mess fast and then have General Creswell transfer her to a far corner of the world! She would need just enough time before leaving town to kill Chloe!

Lying back against her pillow, Mac reluctantly looked up into his face, ready to tell him the letter had been a big mistake, and the fact that she was dying was an outright lie.

Instead he began to speak, "Sarah, there's nothing to be embarrassed about. Chloe did us both a great service; well I feel that way at least. By doing what she did it allowed me to grant your wish, but also to fulfill a desire that I had kept hidden from you for all these years. I am glad that she wrote to me, and if I get a chance I will tell her that. In the mean time, I don't know how many chances we will have to fulfill your wish, but I am hoping that there will be many more than just this one." He leaned over and gently placed his lips on hers.

To be continued…..