He opened his eyes slowly, allowing them to adjust to the fluorescent lights, fighting to focus. He wasn't in much pain as long as he didn't move, in thanks, he knew, to the morphine, and he willed himself to take slow, shallow breaths. He was sluggish, unable to marshal his thoughts with any kind of certitude. He knew he'd been shot and he knew he was in the hospital, but everything else was a blur at the moment.

Slowly, images came back to him - his daughter, Steve, Dan…all there, all talking to him. He smiled slightly; yeah, he remembered that. Right – that was just a few hours ago, wasn't it? Sighing carefully, he relaxed, staring at the far wall and the small TV that sat on a shelf high up in the corner. He remembered sitting in a chair, talking to the doctor; yes, it was all coming back… ice cream… Maggie. Maggie? No, that couldn't be right; what would she be doing here?

Almost imperceptibly, he became aware of another presence in the room, instinct telling him that he was not alone. As he began to turn his head, he felt a hand come to rest lightly on his left forearm and someone leaned towards him. Another hand was suddenly, gently caressing his right cheek and as he struggled to focus, warm soft lips pressed down on his, and he closed his eyes.

# # # # #

Steve had let the silence stretch between them for quite a while. He was content to give the younger man his time and space right now, so he listened to the comforting sounds of Jeannie at work in the kitchen, doing one of the things she loved: caring for the people in her life. A small twinge of sad regret briefly flitted over his face; the evening would be perfect if Mike were here to share it. But he took great consolation in knowing that that would indeed happen again; that their anchor, the sun around which they all revolved, was going to return.

Taking another sip of his beer, he turned to looked at the man beside him. "You wanna talk?' he asked quietly and though at first Dan didn't move, he finally shook his head slowly. Steve nodded to himself and put the beer down.

"I know what you're going through, you know. We all go through it. It's natural. For me it wasn't the first time Mike got hurt when we were partners. It was the second, when he was shot in the church. I was outside, watching the entrances; we had no idea the shooter was inside the church, in a confessional. He got to Mike when the service was over."

Steve paused and glanced at the young cop, who hadn't moved but did seem to be listening. Encouraged, he continued. "I felt like I should be been there for him, you know, then I coulda stopped it. Luckily, he wasn't hit that bad, it could've been a hell of a lot worse. But I felt guilty. And I found myself getting mad at him because I was the one that felt responsible for him getting hurt.

"But you know what? There was nothing I could have done. I realized that later. We did everything we could've but something still happened. We talked about it, Mike and I. But you know what? When I got shot two years ago, the tables turned. I don't know if you were aware of it then, but Mike had a really hard time coming to terms with it. He pulled away from me. I thought at the time it was because I'd decided to leave the force…leave him. And sure, that had something to do with it, but there was a lot of guilt there, for him. He felt responsible for me getting shot, way more responsible than he should have, and nothing I could say to him would change his mind."

Steve stopped, ostensibly to take a sip of his beer but also to give Dan a chance to talk, should he care to. Dan had turned slightly towards Steve as the other had talked, and now half-turned so Steve could see one eye. Quietly, he asked, "What did you do?"

Steve smiled, both at the question and the memory. "We talked," he replied equally softly. "We just talked. We were always good at that. I told him he had nothing to feel guilty about, just like I didn't when he'd been shot years earlier."

"Did it help?"

Steve chuckled quietly. "I'm here, aren't I? I wasn't about to let him take himself out of my life. Look, one of the many things that Mike is so good at is talking. I can't begin to tell you how many times we'd go for a 'walk and talk' – to clear our heads, he'd say. Does he do that with you?"

Dan smiled slightly, for the first time that evening it seemed. "We've done it a couple of times."

"See?" Steve said warmly, "That's all you've got to do, Dan. Talk to him. Don't go blaming yourself if he doesn't blame you; it doesn't make any sense. It'll only tear you up, and put a monkey wrench into what's become a pretty special partnership, am I right?"

# # # # #

Maggie pulled back slightly, both hands now lightly on the sides of Mike's face. She looked into his eyes, smiling, as he stared at her, bewildered. "It's really me," she said happily, nodding, and once more watched as tears sprang to his eyes and he smiled back.

"I thought I'd dreamed you," he said quietly and she laughed.

"Well that might be, but I'm here in the flesh as well." She leaned forward and kissed him again then sat back, her features now lined with worry as she stroked his temples gently. "You had me so scared, Mike. I really thought I'd lost you. And I couldn't take that."

He had reached up with both hands and put them on her wrists, wanting to embrace her but knowing he wasn't able. Instead he held her as tightly as he could and looked into her eyes. "I'm not going anywhere," he said hoarsely.

"Good," she said with a growing smile, "'cause then I'd just have to go after you."

He chuckled softly then winced and closed his eyes. He released her wrists, laying both forearms lightly across his lower chest. Frowning, she sat on the edge of the bed, and put a hand gently over his. "You okay?"

He nodded slowly, keeping his eyes closed. She waited while he got the pain under control, then he opened his eyes and looked at her, puzzled. "How did you find out?" he asked quietly.

She grinned, squeezing his hand. "You can thank your partner for that. Dan called me when you were in surgery – the first time. He was terrified you weren't going to make it." She paused, knowing this was probably fresh news to him. "He wanted me to know. I caught the first flight out."

Mike was looking at her with such gratitude and adoration that she found herself choking up, unable to continue. "I'm glad you here," he whispered "and I'm so sorry."

"Oh my god, Mike, you have nothing to be sorry about. It's not like you did this on purpose, right?" She smiled at him warmly, her heart breaking at his selfless concern, and squeezed his hand tighter. "Look, I think you should go to sleep. I'm not going anywhere either. And we've gotta get you stronger, 'cause there's something really important we have to talk about."

Through half-closed eyes and with a small, knowing smile, he said softly, "The answer is yes, by the way."

She frowned and cocked her head. "Okay, smarty, what makes you think you know what I was going to say?" she chuckled.

"I'm a detective, remember?" He had closed his eyes, but the smile lingered.

"Oh, I see," she teased, "and what, pray tell, is the question I am supposed to be asking you?"

Mike opened his eyes, and his smile got wider. "Will you marry me?"

# # # # #

"Dinner's ready!" Jeannie yelled from the kitchen.

Still looking at Dan, Steve called over his shoulder, "We'll be right in!" He stared at his younger friend. "I'd rather Jeannie didn't know about this right now, okay? We still have to explain Maggie to her," he chuckled softly, hoping to lighten the mood.

Dan smiled slightly and nodded, quickly wiping his cheeks with the back of his hand.

Steve smiled and slapped him on the back.

"Good. I don't know about you, but I'm starving. And Jeannie never disappoints." He stepped down off the bench seat, picked up his beer bottle and headed for the door.

Dan took a deep breath, looking up once more at the moonless sky. He still hadn't shaken off the feelings of inadequacy and guilt that had increasingly overwhelmed him since the shooting, but Steve's little pep talk had certainly helped. He smiled slightly to himself; how lucky he was to have two such remarkable men in his life as Mike and Steve.

He slid off the picnic table and crossed towards the door, wiping at his eyes one last time. He could hear the light-hearted banter between Steve and Jeannie as he entered the house and he sighed happily. Things could only get better, he thought.

# # # # #

It was slightly before 8 a.m. when the three sleepy visitors walked down the hallway towards Room B442. Jeannie had been insistent that they pick up Mike's favourite breakfast Danish and coffee and bring it to him, having found out that he was allowed to eat anything he wanted. Her hope was to get her father on his feet and out of the hospital as soon as possible so she could care for him herself.

Jeannie moved ahead of the two men and approached the nurse's station. Steve had held back to talk to Dan. "We're gonna have to let her know about Maggie today," he reasoned, "it's not fair to either of them."

"You're right. Let me give Maggie a call and tell her to come in." He turned back towards the payphones, reaching into his pants pocket for some change. He stopped and turned back towards Steve. "Hey, you got a dime?"

Grinning, Steve reached into his own pocket as he crossed to the young cop. "You're becoming more and more like Mike every day," he chuckled as he handed over the coin.

Dan's annoyed frown turned to a smile as he closed his fist around the dime and continued towards the phones. "I'll take that as a compliment," he said over his shoulder.

Jeannie had finished talking to the nurses and came back towards Steve. "I told them I brought Mike's breakfast and they said that was fine. He hasn't eaten yet."

Steve was listening to her but had one eye on Dan at the bank of phones. Jeannie turned away again and headed towards the door to Mike's room. Dan hung up the phone and looked at Steve, shrugging and mouthing, "She's not there."

Steve's head swiveled towards Jeannie, who had pushed the door open slightly and was staring into the room but not moving. Slowly, she allowed the door to close then she turned away and started to walk back towards Steve, who had been joined by Dan. The two men braced themselves.

Jeannie looked up at Steve, her brow furrowed in confusion. "There's a woman in Mike's bed," she said quietly and haltingly.

Both men reacted; Steve snorted and looked away, Dan looked down and bit his lip, clearing his throat. As Steve looked back at Jeannie, he said quietly to Dan, "I sure hope it's Maggie." Dan's explosion of laughter caught Jeannie by surprise and she glared from one to the other.

"What?!" When they said nothing, she continued, "You know about this?! Both of you?!"

Properly chastised, they sobered up and looked at her, still having a hard time erasing the smirks from their faces. Steve looked at Dan and gave him the 'you first' gesture.

Trying not to smile too broadly, Dan looked her in the eyes. "Jeannie, her name is Maggie, and she's Mike's…girlfriend."