Linda popped into Eddie's room after a while to check up on her vitals. She was surprised to see Jamie still sitting next to Eddie. She noted the worry lines on his face as he stared at his partner while she slept. And then she noticed their hands were clasped together. Linda had always heard the rumors through Danny that their partnership was close and that there were underlying feelings there. But hearing about it and actually seeing it were two different things. It actually made Linda smile and wonder some more about what was really going on with these two. It was so obvious that Eddie was Jamie's whole world at the moment.

Jamie wasn't even aware that Linda had entered the room. It wasn't until Linda cleared her throat from behind that he broke out of his gaze and turned his head.

"Hey Linda," he said, looking and sounding very tired.

"Hey. What are you still doing here? I thought I told you to go get some rest yourself. Visiting hours are over."

He smiled self-consciously knowing he'd been caught with his feelings for Eddie plainly written on his face. "I just…I just couldn't leave her. She doesn't have any family nearby and I didn't want her to be alone."

"She's being released in the morning, Jamie. It's not like she'll be here long."

Jamie knew she wasn't buying his story. "I know," was all he could say in reply as he glanced back at Eddie who continued to sleep. He still hadn't let go of her hand. He saw that Linda noticed this too and braced himself.

"Jamie…"

Her tone was one that Jamie recognized from other people hundreds of times before. The kind where he knew that questions and observations of his feelings for Eddie were forthcoming along with the usual jabs and warnings and disapprovals since they were partners.

"Please don't, Linda," he sighed. "Not you too. We're just partners." His standard answer flowed out of him as a force of habit even though he could finally admit to himself that it was a complete lie.

Linda smiled as she checked a few of the monitors and wrote down some notes.

"I wasn't going to admonish you, Jamie. I think you guys are cute together- good for each other even. Maybe it's time you should do something about it."

This surprised Jamie, and as he sat there in shock, Linda patted his shoulder. "Stay as long as you want." She winked and turned to leave the room.

The throbbing pain in her head began to bring her out of a deep sleep. When Eddie opened her eyes, she thought for a split second that she was home in her warm bed, but reality quickly set in as she realized she was still in the hospital, and the events of the past evening hours quickly ran through her mind and caught back up with her.

The pain was becoming unbearable, so she tried to move her hand to press the button for the nurse, but found that her hand was caught up in something. That something ended up being Jamie Reagan's hand. She looked over and her heart melted at the sight. He had fallen asleep, most of his body still sitting in the chair while his head awkwardly rested on the bed right next to her shoulder with his hand still wrapped tightly around hers. He didn't look comfortable, but he did look like an adorable love-sick puppy. He had made good on his promise that he wasn't going anywhere, and that fact warmed her.

She hated to disturb him but she really needed some help getting this pain under control. "Jamie?" she whispered, trying to wake him gently without scaring him. She squeezed his hand. "Jamie…"

Jamie instantly became awake with only Eddie on the forefront of his mind. "Eddie? You okay? What's wrong?"

"My pain meds wore off," she replied tiredly.

"I'll buzz for Linda," he said and pushed the call button.

"What time is it?" Eddie asked.

"Two in the morning."

"God, Reagan. What are you still doing here? Visiting hours are way past over. Go home and sleep."

"I don't want to go home. I told you I was going to be here with you. Linda let me stay."

"You have a family hook for everything."

"No, I really don't," he gaped.

A nurse walked in, but it wasn't Linda.

"I bet you want some more of this," the nurse said to Eddie as she started to hook up a new bag to the IV line. "I was just getting ready to come in here to wake you and check up on that concussion of yours."

"Where's Linda?" Jamie asked, surprised that a different nurse showed up.

"You're Jamie, right? She just left in a hurry a few minutes ago. She told me to tell you to check your messages. Something about a family emergency."

"What?" Jamie replied, alarmed. He grabbed his phone and started thumbing through the texts that he had slept through. "Oh my God," he exclaimed.

"What happened?" Eddie asked, concerned. The nurse finished checking Eddie's vitals and left the room.

Jamie's voice shook. "Everyone's alright, but Danny's house burnt to the ground. It's a total loss."

"Oh…that's terrible! Everyone's okay though? Are you sure?"

"Yeah. No one was home; Danny was working, the boys were staying with friends for the weekend, and Linda was here so... Looks like Dad's taking them in."

"Wow…How'd it happen?"

"Retaliation for the drug bust," Jamie said bitterly.

"Seriously?" Eddie spat, knowing about the high profile case Danny had been working on. "Those bastards. That's horrible! Jamie you need to go. Go be with your family."

"Linda's telling me to stay put. Dad and Erin are with them. They need some time to process it all. Sounds like there's nothing I can do right now anyway…"

"I'm so sorry, Jamie…if there's anything I can do…"

Jamie sat back down and rubbed her arm. "Hey, you just need to concentrate on getting better, okay? Get some more rest. Try not to worry about it."

"I know…but, I feel so bad for them. Can you just imagine? Can you imagine what it would be like to lose everything like that?

Jamie sat back and contemplated the feeling of helplessness and fear he had when he saw all the blood gushing from her head.

"Not like that, but I'm still very aware of how close I came to losing you…and I never want to go there again."

Eddie frowned. "I'm gonna be fine. Please tell me you're not feeling guilty for what happened."

"How could I not be, Eddie? I wasn't fast enough. And we shouldn't have been working together….we shouldn't work together. Not anymore."

This was not what Eddie wanted to hear. "Jamie, I'm alive because of you. I don't trust anyone else to have my back the way you do. You saved my life, and I really want us to still be partners."

"I don't know Eddie…we have to be responsible here."

"And you don't think we have been? You don't even realize how responsible you were back there. You followed every protocol. You patiently waited to come out of hiding until I had him on the ground. You gave him an opportunity to surrender by telling him not to move. You didn't pull the trigger until you realized that he wasn't going to stop with the hammer. And it was a perfect shot, one and done, and you didn't hit me in the process. You had nerves of steel with your aim. No one could have done it better, Jamie. And I mean it. No one."

He lifted her hand to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on her fingers. "Trust me, I want to be that person that always has your back. But I can't make any promises that we'll be able to stay partners. I could never live with myself if something went terribly wrong and it was my fault."

"I know…I get it, I do," Eddie sighed heavily. "If the roles were reversed I would feel the same. It's just that this is so heartbreaking to have to think that our partnership is over."

"It's not when you consider what we're gaining instead."

Eddie looked surprised. "That's not the answer you gave me when we were dancing that one night."

Jamie grinned, remembering how beautiful she looked in her dress and how amazing it felt to hold her close. "I know. Maybe I'm changing my mind because I just realized some things are actually more important than partnerships."

He bent down and gave her the most romantic and heartfelt kiss Eddie had ever experienced.

"Go back to sleep, okay?" Jamie said softly against her lips. "We don't have to make any huge decisions right now. Just know that I love you."

Eddie's eyes became watery, overwhelmed by his tenderness and the way he made her feel. "I love you too."