Author's Note: Thanks for the continued reviews, everybody. Sorry for the long wait for the update. I'm a little "iffy" on writing discipline. I blame only myself…and my evil slave-driving bosses at work. Continue to feel free to nitpick.

"Five rounds, buddy." Ray Sputz was saying as he loomed over Wright in his hospital bed. He held up a hand with the fingers splayed. "Five rounds, and three of 'em could have been fatal. I think somebody owes Mr. Body Armor Maker a 'Thank You' note."

"Maybe," Max Wright said. A day and a half after regaining consciousness his voice had strengthened some, but he still sounded like he had just woken up. "Of course, one of them almost was fatal, and the body armor didn't do squat about it."

Wright had taken five hits from the kidnaper's gun at the Starlight Motor Inn the day he and his colleagues in the Seattle FBI Field Office recovered the Senator's Daughter. Three of the hits caught him in areas protected by his bulletproof vest. One sliced through the top of his left shoulder. The one that was "almost fatal" was the one that went through his right leg in a spot unprotected by armor. That one opened the Femoral Artery. Blood loss was massive and immediate, and survival depended on the patient receiving rapid medical attention.

"True enough," Sputz said, "but you got lucky on that score. They tell you how you got saved?"

"The doc said a couple of nurses from the hospital were on the scene and could administer emergency aid."

A big grin crossed Sputz's face. "Yep. Those last two women you pulled out work in the ER here. Rumor among the staff has it that they were there for sort of a 'rendezvous' - if ya know what I mean…"

Trina Rader, standing on the other side of the bed, shook her head. "Nice going, Spuds." She said. "Way to turn an act of mercy into a porno video."

"Please…DVD." Sputz said. "Modern porno has gone digital along with everyone else. It's the wave of the future."

This caused them all to laugh, an action which Wright immediately regretted. The torso impacts had left behind one cracked and two severely bruised ribs, all of which seriously protested his right to enjoy anything funny. The stabbing pain subsided after a few seconds when he took some deep breaths to settle down.

"Well, I don't care what they were doing while they were there," Tess said as she came back into the room, "just as long as they were there and could make sure My Hero came back to me." Rader moved aside so Tess could resume her place at Wright's side. She'd only left to go to the bathroom, which was how she usually spent her time when visiting her husband in the hospital. Tess took a seat at his bedside and took his hand in hers and held it tight.

Wright found this comforting, of course, but was worried that she was spending too much time fretting over him. She shrugged off any attempt he made to get her to go home or at least spend enough time away from him to get a decent meal. His friends were no help. Whenever they visited they went out of their way to get her anything she might need. All of them had brought food for her at least once, and Rader had taken their key and grabbed a change of clothes for her when Tess arranged (read: alternately demanded and begged against hospital policy) to spend the night with him in his hospital room. Eventually she'd have to go home - she still had a job, as far as he knew - but until then she'd be an extension of his body, one being physically maintained by people who should have been trying to pry her away.

And speaking of friends and coworkers… "Is the boss mad at me or something?" He asked.

"You mean 'Why haven't you seen him'?" Rader said. Wright nodded. "He was here when they first brought you in, and he'll be around as soon as he can, but he's still got the details of the kidnapping and shoot-out to deal with. You weren't the only one injured, remember…"

"Point taken…" Wright said.

"He's got other problems, too." Sputz said. "Their initials are O-P-R."

Wright grunted. The FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility was the Bureau's version of Internal Affairs. "Don't tell me they're after Sanderson." He said.

"They claim they're not after anybody - yet - but they are looking into what happened at the motel."

"They've spoken to most of us, so far." Rader said. "We've been trying to keep them from bothering you until you were stronger, but we can't hold 'em off forever."

"Well, I don't know what to tell them." Wright said.

"The truth, of course." Tess said. "Just tell them what happened. I mean, nobody did anything wrong, right?"

"'Course not." Rader said. That satisfied Tess, but when she turned her attention back to her husband the other two agents in the room shared a look that showed they weren't all that sure.

Rader and Sputz left soon after that, and Wright spent the rest of the day enduring different tests necessary to see how he was healing. Tess accompanied him whenever she could and waited anxiously in his room when she couldn't. She was right back at his bedside when it was finally time for him to settle in for the evening, so he took the opportunity to try to get her to go home. "I'm getting the best of care." He said. "I'm gonna be fine. You really don't have to stay."

"I never said I had to." Tess said.

"You're gonna get backed up in your work." Wright said.

"Patrice knows what's going and is willing to accept the project a couple of days late." She said. "And if worse comes to worst I'll just move my drawing table in here."

Wright chuckled, then fought back the pain as he said, "You're going to bring that thing in here? Honey, it barely fits in our bedroom."

Tess took a moment to look around the hospital room. Most of the space was taken up by the two hospital beds, partitions and various medical devices. There was no other patient in the room right now, which was probably why the hospital staff allowed Tess to stay overnight. Two oversize cushioned chairs were there for visitors to use, while two ancient looking TV's hung on the wall across from the beds. The remaining floor space was barely wide enough to allow medical personnel to operate freely and provide a path to the bathroom.

"Okay…so I'll get a portable one." Tess said. "I can lay it right across your feet and watch you while I work."

"Oh, well, as long as you have a plan…" he said as she giggled. He wondered idly how many other wives would consider using their husbands' wounded bodies as easels.

"I'll be back." She said, giving his hand a squeeze before getting up and heading to the bathroom.

When she closed the door Wright tried his best to get comfortable for the night. He closed his eyes and started to let the fatigue he'd been feeling all day finally claim him.

"Fare thee well, Milord?"

His eyes shot open. What was that?

"Milord, it is Sybil." The voice said. It was more in his mind than his ear, but he was hearing it. The problem was he shouldn't have been. She was a dream, and he was still awake.

The voice persisted. "Forgive my intrusion, Milord, but I was curious as to how you were doing."

Slowly, very slowly, Wright turned his head to the left, then stopped when his gaze rested on the fair, soft visage of Sybil, the woman - or scroll, or whatever - that had supposedly grabbed his soul from purgatory. She was still wearing the flowing black vestment, and she was looking at him with what seemed to be genuine concern.

"You can't be here." He said.

"Worry not, Sir." Sybil said. "Your wife will not see me or hear me."

"I'm sure of that, since I'm obviously dreaming that you're here." He said.

"I fear not, Milord. It is within my power to be wherever you are in order to aid and serve you. Though I am detectable only to your senses, I am here with you."

"O-kay," he said, wondering if he should have himself checked out by a shrink. "I don't suppose you'd be able to prove that…"

"What proof would you require?" Sybil said.

"I dunno…heal me?"

"Very well." Sybil said, then she slid part of her vestment away from her right wrist. She moved it close enough for Wright to see the thin gold chain she wore and the charm that hung from it. It looked like a rod with wings at the top being attacked by two snakes winding their way around it.

"This is the Caduceus," she said, "the staff of Hermes, Messenger of the Gods. It has been taken by the modern medical profession as a symbol. It is their promise of swift healing to those who need it. Take it from my wrist and everything that must happen to make you well will occur in the space of a heartbeat."

Wright looked at her when she was done, then looked at the charm, then decided that the first chance he got he'd pack Tess up and go on a nice long vacation. Probably to England. Maybe Sybil was his subconscious's way of telling him he wanted to see Big Ben or something. Still, the only way to get rid of her was to humor her, so he reached up and used what little strength he had to pull the charm from her wrist.

Tess had just finished drying her hands and was checking her hair in the mirror when she heard her husband cry out. Her mind barely registered that it sounded more like a cry of surprise than of pain as she rushed out the bathroom door. "Max! Are you all right?!" She said as she stopped at the foot of his bed.

She was surprised to see him sitting up. He used his left hand to test his chest and ribs and leg, then reached to put down the safety bars on the side of the bed. He swung his legs around and rested them on the floor, then, being careful to leave the intravenous lines in his arm intact, stood up. There was no sign of pain, or effort. It was as if he'd never been shot.

Tess watched as he looked at an empty spot near the bed with a look of shock on his face. "I'll be damned." he said. He looked down at his legs as he tested them, shifting from one foot to the other and jumping up and down a couple of times. He chuckled then, and brought his right hand about halfway to his face. It was closed into a fist. When he opened it he stared at the palm of his hand. Tess couldn't see anything in it.

"Honey," she said, more softly, "are you all right?"

That was when he noticed her. He couldn't help but laugh a little, and he flashed her a thousand-watt smile.

"I'm fine." Max Wright said. "I'm completely fine…"