Sorry this is taking longer to get the chapters out. Now that I've written the parts I had previously skipped over, some of the story I had written for the 'ending of the tale' has now changed...as has my writing style. After reading over what I had previously written, I didn't think I could send you guys what I had done...I'd be cheating you as well as myself. So I am still trying to keep to my current writing style but still trying to get to the end of the story as I had previously envisioned. Make sense? Probably not...but oh well.

Thanks to all my readers (and reviewers -Rottenchild, ShakeyB, kittyloverluna & Riabhach). Thanks for bearing with me as I keep pushing to do the best I can. Anyone else that's enjoying (or not), please review! Reviews feed the muse and make me a better writter because it fuels the fire.

Here's Chapter 27. Little shorter than I'd like but it'll do to entertain. Enjoy. ;)

Chapter 27

Matt sat next to Clara's bed as he thought back over the past ten hours as he watched her sleep. He'd had the day from hell. He had hated to leave her that morning but within half an hour of Clara waking up, he had to be back on duty at the station. Before he had left, he'd made a call to Sheriff McBride to let him know she was awake and talking. He'd seen the nurse come back with something and injected it into Clara's IV. Matt had done his best to reassure her that he'd be back as soon as he could as she became groggy from the pain medication.

After leaving, he'd hit the ground running, actually meeting the team at a rescue scene before he'd even made it back to the station to change into his uniform. It had been one call after another all day long, requiring that they even call Hart in on his day off to help. The torrent of emergencies had finally subsided around dark and they had managed to drag themselves back to the station, clean their gear and prepare for the next day.

Having taken a quick shower and changed clothes, Matt had headed back to the hospital to meet up with his dad and brother. The Deputy Sheriff outside of Clara's room had let him know that things were now 'official' and that McBride had already put protections for Clara's safety into place. Once he'd entered the room, he found Clara sound asleep. Cody had been dozing in a chair next to Jesse who had been watching the news on the television.

Jesse brought him up to date on the events of the day after he'd left. The doctors had converged on her room and she'd been taken away for tests, scans and been brought back utterly spent. By the time her first dose of pain medication wore off, Mike and the DA had been there to question her, and not wanting her medication to influence her answers, the sheriff had asked if she could wait for her next dose. She'd had to suffer through the hour-long interrogation before they were satisfied and she was allowed some relief. She had been asleep ever since then. According to Mike, Lisa had informed them the day before that Randall was out and about LA, clubbing and acting as if he'd done nothing wrong.

But his father had pointed to the TV and growled, "When they went to serve him with the arrest warrant, he locked himself in his office and called several news agencies, saying he was being falsely arrested, made a scene once the cameras had arrived and then finally gave himself up." But by then the damage had been done. The story was all over the news stations and every station seemed to have its own spin on it depending on whatever lie Randall had decided to tell at the time. It didn't help that he had called the most controversial and rag reporters either so whatever story Randall had told them would only be skewed further.

Matt had ground his teeth as Jesse told him that there were already stories on how Clara had tried to kill herself, tried to kill Randall and he shot back in self defense, how she was crazy and self inflicted the wound on herself just to get attention and make him look like the bad guy. No one had yet to report the truth. The news crews were already arriving and the local news was already throwing questions at the DA and had even cornered Sheriff McBride once about the arrest and Randall's accusations. Since the details of the case were being kept confidential until the case could be brought to trial, they could only state that the evidence and testimony of Shandra Lee was enough to convince a judge to issue an arrest warrant for attempted 1st degree murder.

With a sigh, Matt had given his dad the keys to his truck and told him to take Cody back to the station and get some sleep. There was nothing else they could do for her and that they should consider heading back up to the cabin for a few days due to possible incoming weather. Jesse had grimaced but nodded, finally getting Cody up and moving. With a yawned 'Good-bye' from his younger brother, Matt had watched them bid goodnight to Clara's guard and disappear down the hallway.

Matt's thoughts turned back to the present as he saw a young nurse come into the room and quietly go about her duty of checking the monitors, writing down several numbers, resetting several machines and then left, giving Matt a nod and little smile.

Standing up, Matt stretched his tall frame and winced as he heard several joints pop and crackle. Yawning, he went over to stand in front of the windows of the hospital room that looked out over the mountains. It was dark outside and he could hear the cold northern wind whistle past the windows signaling that the weather was truly beginning to change. It wouldn't be too much longer and they'd be up to their eyeballs in the first stranded 'snow bunnies' of the season.

The sound of the rustling of sheets behind him and a slight pained sigh brought his thoughts back to the occupant of the room. He turned, expecting to see that Clara had just shifted in her sleep. Instead, a pair of tired blue eyes watched him through half closed lids.

"Hey there Sleeping Beauty," he teased lightly as he moved over to her bedside.

"Don't tease," she said in a voice that matched the tired look she gave him, "I've seen my reflection today. I look like I could give the undead a run for their money."

Matt smiled softly and reached back, pulling up his chair to sit down next to her. "Well I wasn't going to say anything…," he joked, not finishing the sentence.

Clara rolled her eyes a little and stuck her tongue out at him a little. "Smart ass..."

"Better than being a dumb ass," he replied as he picked up her right hand and kissed the back of it gently, giving her a wink as he saw the slight curl of the edges of her lips. Anything more he knew would hurt her bruised face. He wanted to give her something else to focus on for awhile because all too soon the real world would come intruding back in and bring with it the stress that would take away that touch of a smile on her face.

Clara did her best to keep from frowning as Matt told her about what Randall had pulled when the deputies had gone to arrest him. She sighed a little then shifted as that alone caused her a bit of discomfort. "Great," was all she said to it when Matt had finally told her the last of what Jesse had informed him of.

"Listen Clara, he hasn't a prayer in the world. Once the truth is out there and people realize what he's done it will do nothing but make him look like a complete ass in the public eye," said Matt, trying to keep her spirits up.

She was quiet for awhile as she thought these things out. There was little to nothing she could do about it right now laying in this bed and so she bit her lip, her mind turning to other things. "Matt, listen. I…I want you to know that I was planning on coming down to the station that following morning to tell you everything. But I got a bit…distracted," she said, trying to joke just a little.

Matt grew quiet as he watched her face, his hand still holding to her right one. "I know. Cody told me everything but…," Matt hesitated and when Clara turned her head slightly to look a little more fully at him, his green eyes looked up at hers. "I already knew who you really were by the time we got dad's call that night."

There was a look of confusion that crossed shown in her eyes, "How…I mean, how did you know if you were so determined to find out two days before?"

There was a slow flush to his cheeks that she could see in the semi dark of the room. "Blame Jimmy and his idle interest in keeping up with what's going on in Hollywood and the entertainment industry. Apparently a news story about you going missing, similar to the one that caught Cody's attention and got him doing his research on you, caught Jimmy's attention and he swore he saw a picture flash by on the screen that looked just like you."

Clara blinked slowly, "Oh…," was her only response.

"We all thought he was nuts as he started hollering and pointing at the screen like a madman, saying it was you. He went and got a copy of the 'People Magazine' that had that article on you going from a TV Star to a Rock Star. Then he went and got that picture Cody took and showed us that the face was the exact same one." Matt grew quiet as he stroked a thumb over her knuckles.

She let out another soft sigh, "Leave it to Jimmy to burst my bubble," she tried to joke. "Is he as big of a pain in the ass as he seems to be?" she asked slyly.

Matt chuckled softly and then grew silently. "Actually, he's one of my closest friends. For all his screwing around he's the one I can truly rely on to have my back when things get hairy. That night after he proved to us who you were, I had a lot of thinking to do. We talked for awhile after everyone else went off to bed. I wasn't sure of what to make of it all and he talked me into going up the next morning and letting you know that I knew what your secret was."

She raised an eyebrow minutely since anything else was painful but she waited for him to continue, wondering where this was leading to. She could sense that it was going somewhere but she just wasn't sure where.

"Before he left though, he gave me some good advice. He said that before I went up there, I had better be sure of my feelings for you. Not about what you are or who you used to be or what you kept from me or why. He said that I needed to be sure of my feelings about who you are now. If I went up there and I wasn't sure of myself and what I felt for you, you'd sense it. It would most likely be my one shot to make things truly right with you…if that's what I wanted." Matt finally grew quiet as he watched her face.

Clara was silent for a long moment as she pondered Jimmy's advice to Matt. Finally she took in a slow breath until she felt the beginning of the pain that told her she'd gone as far with it as she could. With a slow exhale she steadied herself for the answer to what she was about to ask next.

"And are you sure of your feelings for me and about who, what I am?" came her voice, soft and a slight tremor she hoped he wouldn't hear.

In answer, Matt stood up slowly and instead of answering in words, he leaned down over the bed railing, gently kissing her on the lips. She could smell the scent of pine and wood smoke on his clothes, could taste the hint of mint on his lips and she closed her eyes for a moment to take in every sensation that that one simple kiss exuded. She wanted to remember everything about it, down to the last detail of the roughness of the healing cut on his lip from where he'd been assaulted a week before.

When he finally broke it off and put a little distance between them so he could look down at her, he smiled softly at her. "Does that answer your question?"

She opened her eyes slightly and quirked her head, "I don't think I heard you right the first time. You better repeat that again so I can make sure I understood you correctly."

Matt's cheeks showed a soft flush but he didn't seem to mind repeating himself.

TBC -