Agatha's stay in the hospital was brief but with plenty of visitors. Everyone danced around the fact that Merrick had brought her to the hospital and that Silas handled the surgery, hoping for some little tidbit that they could pass along, but once everyone realized that she wouldn't share the details with them, they stopped visiting.

Merrick stopped by regularly, as did Silas, to check on her, but she mostly slept in between contemplating her future with Merrick. When the time came for Agatha to go home, Sam was the one that arrived to escort her to the car.

Sam must have guessed her thoughts because he grinned. "Never fear, my lady. Your handsome knight is bringing around the chariot to escort you to your castle."

He helped her into the wheelchair and gently set her belongings in her lap.

"Would you like to hear the rumor?" Sam asked as she pushed the down button for the elevator, then spun her around and pulled her in.

"Sure, I know there has to be one." Agatha sighed.

"The rumor is that you were carrying Merricks love child," Sam whispered in her ear as if someone might hear.

"Well, at least they got it right for once." She snorted in a very unladylike fashion. "Was that your delicate way of finding out some answers to your questions?"

"You never did answer me directly on the subject last week." Sam defended himself.

"Yes, the baby was Merrick's." Agatha's voice was soft as she was again overwhelmed with sadness that she had lost the child.

"I'm sorry, Aggie. I hope you two figure it all out," Sam kissed the top of her head as the elevator door opened.

Agatha could see Merrick outside the main entrance with the car. When he noticed them, he came to take over for Sam, helping Agatha into the car's passenger side before thanking Sam, who gave a brief wave goodbye and then took the wheelchair back into the hospital.

"I can't recall ever seeing two doctors escort a patient out of the hospital." Agatha smiled as she gently buckled her seatbelt. "Where are we going?"

Merrick made sure she was tucked into the car. "Where would you like to go? We can go to your place or mine." He looked at her pale face as he waited for an answer.

"Where are you staying?" If he was staying at a four-star hotel, she was going to say his place.

"I'm renting Silas's garden apartment."

"My place. I want privacy." He didn't fight her request as he closed the door and moved to the driver's side.

"I take it you're going to stay with me?" Agatha closed her eyes to hide that she was relieved that she wouldn't be on her own.

"Yes, but I understand if you don't want me. We can call someone else if you would prefer," Merrick offered, misreading her reaction.

Agatha turned and met his eyes. "I would prefer you, if you don't mind?"

"I don't mind, Agatha." His voice was rough, and she knew that her acceptance of his offer meant a lot.

"Do you have to get right back to the hospital, or can we talk?" She rested her head on the back of the seat as he pulled out of the hospital's entrance.

"I took a few days off," Merrick said before focusing all of his attention on traffic for the short journey home.

When they arrived, he helped her out of the car and straight to bed.

"Do you need anything?" he asked as he pulled the blanket up over her.

"What's for dinner?" she asked as she felt her eyes start to close. The trip home had taken a lot out of her.

"I'll think of something," he assured her as he squeezed her hand.

"I love you, Roark," she opened her eyes and met his. "You know none of this was your fault, right?"

He gave her a sad smile. "And you know none of it was your fault, right?"

Agatha nodded as she felt the tears start again. The nurse in her knew that no matter what, she would have lost the baby, but the mother in her kept trying to think of something she could've done to stop it.

"I love you too, Agatha." His words made the tears come harder than they ever had, and he sat gently on the bed next to her and held her as she sobbed her heart out until she fell asleep.

*******

Dinner was boring. It was scrambled eggs and toast.

"I might as well still be in the hospital," she said in disgust. 'At least these eggs aren't runny." Agatha picked up a forkful of eggs and let them plop back down on her plate.

"That's it. Keep focusing on the silver lining," Merrick said with a patient smile that made her want to smash his face.

"This is all your fault!" She had awakened angry and was still angry. She had been told that mood swings could be expected for a time, but all she had felt was overwhelming sadness until now.

"The eggs, your current mood, or the events of the past week?" Merrick asked as he ate a forkful of eggs, unaffected by her outburst.

"All of it!" She pushed away from the table a little too fast and felt a sharp pain in her abdomen.

"Be careful, Agatha. You can be as mad at me as you want if it helps you, but please don't hurt yourself." Merrick stood and helped her out of her seat and toward the couch.

"It's not fair!" she cried out in anger as she threw a pillow across the room.

"Life is never fair, Agatha," Merrick said, picking up the pillow as he dodged another one.

"Life is never fair, Agatha," Agatha mimicked before she buried her head in another pillow and screamed.

Agatha ranted and raved for a solid half-hour, and Merrick took it all on the chin, helping her to bed when she had worn herself out again.

*******

The apartment was dark and quiet when Agatha opened her eyes a few hours later.

She carefully stood and walked towards the living room, where she found Merrick sitting in a chair in the dark, watching the pool's fountain as he sipped a drink.

She sat next to him, and neither one of them spoke for a while.

"Can I have a sip?" she asked, motioning to his glass.

"At the risk of life and limb, no, not with your current pain meds." He set the glass on the floor next to him and out of sight.

"I'm sorry about earlier." Agatha looked at her hands in her lap.

"Look at me, Agatha," Merrick demanded, waiting until she did.

"You don't owe me an apology. This is something that we're going to handle together, all right?" Merrick's eyes met hers and waited until she nodded her agreement.

"Tell me something that isn't sad," Agatha begged as she leaned back in her chair.

Merrick slid an ottoman toward her and then laid a blanket over her legs, making sure she was comfortable. Then he reached for his drink and took a sip as he settled back in his chair, his feet joining hers on the ottoman.

"I hated getting a new batch of nurses on base. It was always the same thing over and over again, scared, wide-eyed girls who were desperate to impress and didn't particularly care about the details."

"That's a bit harsh, most of them did care, but they were just out of school!" Agatha defended her fellow servicewomen.

"They never really grasped the reality of why we were there or that we were the end of the line. If we couldn't save them, no one could." Merrick took another sip of his drink and then set it down again. It was as if he was pacing himself.

"Then one day, we got this new group of nurses, and there in the middle of them was this redheaded beauty who took my breath away. I thought she would be like all of the others, incompetent, silly, and nervous, but she wasn't." Merrick smiled to himself.

"She wasn't?" Agatha asked, holding her breath for what came next.

"No, she was annoying, fierce, talented, and gave as good as she got." He took a deep breath. "It had been so long since I felt anything, and the slow awakening of my senses again was...' he searched for the right word, "unpleasant."

Agatha made a strangling noise in her throat. Had he just called her unpleasant?

"But despite the unpleasantness of having to learn how to feel once more, I found myself looking forward to waking up every morning because it meant one more round with the beautiful redhead."

"You fooled me!" Agatha shook her head.

"Good, that was the point." Merrick smiled. "I wanted to strangle you and kiss you all in the same breath. I wanted you next to me and far away from the danger of the base all at the same time. I couldn't figure out what you were thinking, and it was driving me crazy."

"I thought that you were brilliant, grumpy, and sexy as hell." Agatha's voice sounded far away as she remembered what it was like before Paris.

"I realized that day of the explosion that you knew how attracted to you I was, and when you didn't run away screaming mad, it didn't help my need, and it made me more frustrated because I couldn't have what I wanted." He shook his head. "Your outrageous excuse for me, and then that beautiful mouth of yours saying such a foul word just about sent me over the edge. I once again wanted to prove you wrong in so many ways."

"But you couldn't because you're an honorable man." Agatha smiled

"Not so honorable that I couldn't admit that it was more than attraction almost from the beginning." He leaned forward and clasped his hands between his knees. "Paris was like a dream of what my life could be, but I got scared. I couldn't take the risk with my heart again, and you seemed to accept it so readily that I thought you weren't interested in a relationship either."

"But there were moments." Agatha thought of the trip to the vineyard and the dance he offered on their last night.

"Every time I watched you sleeping or saw your smile was a moment, and I wanted to remember them all."

"Is that why you got the tattoo?" Agatha asked as silent tears fell down her cheeks.

"Yes."

They sat in silence for a few moments as Merrick collected his thoughts once more.

"That night at Sam's father's retirement party, when you told me it was inevitable that we were destined to meet one way or another, and you were destined to have a broken heart, it crushed me. The last thing I ever wanted to do was break your heart."

"That's the reason you came by that night to tell me why." Agatha nodded as she remembered it.

"And then you left," Merrick said.

"I told you that you knew where to find me!" Agatha responded hotly.

"In a note that also included instructions about the maid, and I did find you. I went to Aunt Trisha, who arranged a meeting since I didn't know where you were."

"You said she asked you first because of what Arthur Brolin told her!" Agatha denied.

"Aunt Trisha is easy to play if you know how to do it. A few keywords with a lack of information gets her all wound up, and then all you have to do is wait." Merrick smiled at the thought of his Aunt. "I knew that she would make sure we met again."

"But why didn't you just come to me? Why the games?" Agatha demanded.

"How could I? You disappeared, and I didn't want to get Sam involved. I had more to tell, and I was afraid it would be the one thing that would scare you off. I thought a little help from my Aunt would be useful."

"So she could help me see what a great guy you are?" Agatha wanted to stand and pace, but she knew she couldn't. "Can I please have a sip of your drink?"

"No."

Agatha took a deep calming breath. "Look, Roark. I know you're a good and honorable man. I'm not afraid of your past. However, I am fearful for our future. You have to start telling me what you're thinking. You have to start communicating."

"I do," he agreed.

Agatha's eyes widened at his response. She had expected a fight from him.

"And you have to be honest," Merrick countered.

"I am!" she insisted.

"No, you're not. You are afraid of my past. You're so scared of it that you had me denying my own child, and then you wouldn't let me talk to you about it." Merrick reached for her hand. "I knew it was mine, I just couldn't wrap my head around the how, and you gave me less than five minutes to do it before we were moving on from the topic. You blocked me."

Agatha knew he was right, and she closed her eyes at the realization.

"I was scared you would walk away," she admitted.

"I'm past the point of being able to walk away, Agatha. I'm in too deep. When I saw you were back at the hospital, working, I felt hope that I might win the girl after all of my stupid and stubborn mistakes."

"You have a fine way of showing it!" Agatha recalled the way he had slammed his stuff on the counter at the sight of her.

"I'm still working on the showing my emotions stuff. I learned to hide it long ago out of self-preservation," Merrick admitted his weakness openly, and that gave her hope. Having met Jade and Rudy, she also understood why he felt the need to hide his emotions.

They were silent once more. Both lost in their thoughts.

"Did you mean what you said earlier, that you love me?" Agatha asked.

"Yes, I meant it." Roark nodded. "I can't imagine my life without you in it."

Agatha felt tears once more. He had said what she needed to hear.

"I'm sorry I lost our baby," Agatha's voice cracked. "I'm sorry I couldn't give you that."

"It was not your fault, Agatha, and what I need, more than anything, is you healthy and happy and within arms reach for the rest of my life. Can we work on that?" He took her face in his hands and wiped her tears with his thumbs.

Agatha nodded. "I love you."

"I love you too."

His gentle kiss sealed the deal.