"We need a nurse in Room 114. They just brought up someone with multiple lacerations and a possible concussion. He still hasn't regained consciousness."

"What's the patient's name?"

The nurse looked at her clipboard. "Um…Elliot Alderson."

Mara's head snapped in the nurse's direction. "I'm sorry, did you just say Elliot Alderson?"

"Why, you know him?"

"Yeah, he's my boyfriend."

Mara quickly ran to Room 114. There were a couple doctors she was familiar with doing some tests on him.

"Mara?" one of the doctors said. "Are you the nurse on call?"

"Uh, no, Elliot's my boyfriend. Can you tell me what happened?"

"Someone found him like this and brought him in. Looks like he's been beat half to death."

"Does anyone know who did it?"

"No, we don't even know who brought him in."

Mara sighed and nervously pressed her hand to her head.

"Hey, Mara," her co-worker said as she entered the room. "What are you doing in here?"

"Hey, Laurie. Uh, can you just keep me updated on him and let me know if anything changes?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Thanks."

Mara left the room and continued working on her other patients and getting her paperwork done. She didn't allow her work to be affected, but she was extremely nervous about Elliot's condition. Who would want to beat him within an inch of his life?

She already knew the answer to that question.

As soon as her shift was over late that night, Mara went to Elliot's room and sat next to his bed. The hours ticked by as she waited for something to happen.

"Mara?"

Mara's head snapped over to Elliot at the sound of his scratchy voice. "Hey," she said softly. "How are you feeling?"

"Like…I've been hit…by a truck," he said breathlessly.

"What happened to you?"

"I don't know. I don't remember."

Mara gently placed her hand on his. "Well, I'm glad you're okay."

"How long…have you been here?"

"A few hours. There was no way I was going to leave until you woke up. I'll go let the nurse know you're awake."

Mara stood up from the chair and headed towards the door. Before she could make it out, a man stepped inside.

"Are you his nurse?" he asked as he shut the door.

Mara did not like the look of this guy. He had droplets of sweat on his forehead and his neck like he was nervous. There was a very, very cold look in his eyes.

"Um, no," she answered. "I finished my shift a while ago. I'm just here waiting with him."

"Could you get me a soda or something? I'll wait with him while you get that."

Mara crossed her arms. "I'm sorry, who did you say you were?"

The man produced a switchblade and went straight for Mara's chest. Mara quickly avoided the weapon and all the attempts following.

"Who are you?" she growled. "Did Tyrell send you?"

The man didn't answer her. He stared her down, daring her to make a move.

"I swear, I'm going to kill my stupid cousin…"

"You're Tyrell's cousin?"

"Oh, so he did send you. Well you're stupid for fighting me here. This is my domain."

When he came after her again, Mara grabbed a pair of medical scissors and deflected the switchblade from hitting her. She delivered a few successful hits and kicks to his chest and legs. The switchblade sliced her skin a couple times, but she refused to let it distract her.

Elliot wanted do direly to do something for her, but he couldn't get his body to move. He was in absolute agony from Tyrell's latest hit, and he could barely even see much less think straight.

He could make out Mara battling fiercely with this guy, and it was clear that the intruder was not prepared for such a difficult disturbance.

Mara grabbed a syringe full of morphine that had been left for Elliot. She jammed the needle into the man's flesh and inserted all of the liquid. The concentration wasn't enough to kill him, but it was enough to make him fall to the floor and become unresponsive.

"Elliot…" Mara gasped. She turned around and he saw blood on her stomach that was beginning to seep through her scrubs. "P…Press the nurse's button."

He watched in horror as she collapsed onto the floor. Forcing his muscles to work, Elliot reached up and pressed the red button on his bed.

"Nurse's station, how may I help you?" someone said as the call was answered.

"We need…help…" he rasped.

The call quickly ended, and Elliot could hear various urgent voices outside his room.

"Mara…" Elliot said. "Hang on."

Mara's vision began to go fuzzy. She realized that the switchblade the man had been using had a fast-acting poison on it, and she had been stabbed in the gut with it not to mention there were various scratches all over her body.

She could hear voices echoing around her before someone turned her body around so she was looking up at blurred faces.

"Mara!" someone cried. "Come on, Mara, stay with me!"

"Elliot…" she mustered out.

"Elliot's fine. Just stay with me now!"

Her vision began to go white as if someone was shining bright lights in her face. Then she lost consciousness.

When Mara awoke, she was lying in a familiar hospital bed. Her pulse was being monitored as were her vital functions.

"Oh, good, you're awake!" Laurie said as she stepped into the room. "You gave us all quite a scare."

"How long was I out?"

"Since yesterday."

Mara's eyes widened. "Oh, no, Elliot!"

"Relax, Mara, Elliot's perfectly fine. We have people watching his room at all times ever since what happened. As for you, you've been detoxed from the poison, and everything should be just fine. We're asking you to stay alert and don't take any unusual occurrences lightly. But you already knew that. The stab wound wasn't very deep at all, so give it a few days and it should heal completely."

Mara leaned back on the bed. She was going to murder Tyrell.

"Hey, Mara?"

Mara sat up to look at her coworker.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but why are you dating Elliot?"

A light smile crossed Mara's face. "We bring out the best in each other. I take care of him, and he takes care of me. I gave him what he wanted most: someone he can trust."

"I guess he just didn't seem like the kind of person you would date."

"There's more to him than what's on the surface. A lot more."

"Well, let me just unhook you from these machines, get your discharge papers, and then you'll be free to go."

Laurie got Mara freed from all of the monitors before leaving the room to retrieve the necessary documents.

Mara didn't know exactly how Elliot did what he did, but she knew that he needed to get Tyrell behind bars as soon as possible. If not, he would just keep coming after the both of them until he got what he wanted. And what he wanted was to escape the consequences of his actions as usual.

Of course…maybe this time, she was the one who could do something…

As soon as Mara was properly discharged, she went down to Elliot's room. The policemen posted by the door allowed her entrance, knowing that she had no ill intentions since she had almost died saving him.

"Hey," she said softly. "Feeling better?"

"A little," he answered hoarsely. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Why are you still here after everything you've been through? You never had to face any of this until you started spending time with me."

Mara went to the side of his bed and gently took her hand in his. "When you love someone, you're willing to put up with anything as long as you can be together."

It took a moment for Elliot's foggy brain to register what Mara had said. "Did you just say…?"

"Yes. I love you, Elliot."

"I…I love you too."

Mara smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear as she leaned down to gently kiss him. Her hand caressed the side of his face, and she was careful not to irritate his cuts.

"I'll stop by later. Right now, I have some business to take care of."

"Hello, my dear cousin."

Mara marched up to Tyrell and punched him square in the face. "You're an idiot!"

"What was that for?"

"You know very well what that was for! For nearly getting me and Elliot killed!"

"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean."

"Oh, cut the crap! You have made my life miserable since the day you met Joanna. Well, I am sick and tired of putting up with it!"

"Joanna has nothing to do with this."

"She has everything to do with this! Ever since her whole 'do-whatever-it-takes-even-if-it-means-cheating-on-me-and-murdering-someone' policy, you haven't hesitated to do anything if it means making her happy."

"Good husbands do whatever they can to make their wives happy."

"Good husbands follow the law, you jerk. And you've broken it more times than you'd care to admit!"

"What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to apologize for everything you've done."

"Like what?"

"Like sending an assassin after Elliot. Kidnapping the both of us to get you bumped up to CTO of E Corp." She glared at him fiercely. "Killing Sharon Knowles."

Tyrell smirked. "What makes you think I killed her?"

"Why else would you kidnap Elliot to make him erase the evidence?"

His smirk disappeared as his eyes hardened. "I couldn't become CTO if I was a suspect in a murder case."

"That or you actually did kill her. A couple eyewitnesses say that they saw you go up on the roof with Mrs. Knowles and come back down looking rather panicked."

"Someone attacked us."

"Funny because I don't recall proof anyone else was ever up there."

"What do you want from me, Mara?"

"I already told you. I want an apology."

Tyrell's eyes hardened even more. "Fine. You want an apology? I'm sorry. I'm sorry I got stuck with you for a cousin. I'm sorry you have to follow the law to a letter. I'm sorry you have to be such a pushover that you won't do what it takes to win. I'm sorry that even kidnapping you and that twisted boyfriend of yours didn't get the message through to you that I can do whatever I want and you can't do a thing about it. Yeah…I killed Sharon Knowles. And you know what? I loved it. I loved seeing the light leave her eyes. I loved seeing that moment where she realized she was going to die on the roof cheating on her husband." He started coming closer to her. "And I wouldn't mind reliving that moment."

His hands shot up to her neck and began to squeeze tightly. Before either of them could do anything more, sirens pierced the air and policemen swarmed the area.

"Sir! Step away from the woman!" one of them ordered, aiming his gun at Tyrell.

"What is this?!" Tyrell demanded, his wide eyes looking at Mara.

Mara coughed a little as he released her. She reached into her back pocket to show him that she had been on the phone with the cops for their entire conversation.

"You tricked me," he growled.

"Not so much fun being on the receiving end, is it? Be careful in prison. Someone of your stature probably won't do so well. But maybe you can prove me wrong. I'll send your regards to Joanna."

The police arrested Tyrell, and Mara just smirked at him as he was led away in a police car. That was a sight she had been longing to see for years.

The next day, Elliot was discharged from the hospital, so Mara offered to take him back to her apartment.

Once inside, she began making him some tea.

"The police arrested Tyrell," she told him as she came and sat next to him on the couch.

"It's all over the news."

"When someone as high up as him gets arrested, word gets around. Hopefully, now, Mr. Knowles can get a little bit of closure."

"How did you get him to confess?"

"Well, Tyrell already hates me. So I just pushed his buttons until he couldn't take it anymore."

"And we didn't even have to hack him."

"No, we didn't."

"Mara…are you sure you're ready to stay with me? I don't think Tyrell will be the only person we have to deal with."

"Elliot, I told you, I love you and that means that I'm ready to put up with anything."

"What about Kellan?"

"I've talked with Kellan already. He's bit wary about his sister dating, but I know he's just trying to fill in for our father. He's seen how happy you make me. That was all the convincing he needed."

Mara set her mug down on the coffee table in front of the couch. Then she leaned close to Elliot and kissed him. He passionately returned her kiss with more fervor than she expected, but the kiss was still a gentle and sweet one.

When they parted, she leaned her forehead against his.

"Everything is going to be okay."