Well, my very first FF is now complete! I have been so thrilled by all of your comments that I have decided to start a new story. I have put a sneak peek at the end of this story. I hope to have the first chapter of that story up and running soon.

Thank you for ALL of your support! I owe some of the other authors here on the CHASE board some reviews. I have been reading your stuff and it has been inspirational to me.

Anyway - here is the last chapter of this crazy story.

-\\-

Then, a nurse who had been blocking his view, moved and Jimmy could see Daisy outside the room. He picked up his head and looked directly at her. She could see the sudden change of concern in his face. Then she could hear the heart monitor beeping. Everyone in the room became more animated. But Jimmy pushed them all back with his good arm and he pointed at her. Without looking away he requested she come in. The doctor supported his request and the nearest nurse opened the door for Daisy to enter.

"How is Annie?"

"She's okay, Jimmy. She just regained consciousness. They have her on antibiotics for her leg wound and they are waiting for the doctor to look at her eye…" she stumbled to silence. When he looked at her to continue, "they think her orbital bone might be fractured."

He nodded and the beeping slowed to normal. He flopped his head back onto the bed. "When can I see her?" He asked into the air.

"I think you are looking good for now. Jimmy, we cannot operate on your collar bone until your lung is more healed. We need to get to it soon so it will be within the next 14 hours. I just want to give your lungs as long as I can before we anesthetize you." The doctor turned and addressed the nurses. "You can roll him by her room on your way to his."

But she turned back to Jimmy to pointedly state, "5 minutes with her. No more, you understand. She is very ill and I need both of you to rest. We put you in neighboring rooms." Jimmy smiled feeling like a chastised kid and nodded. Daisy chuckled at the sight and headed back to Annie's room as she had promised.

Within a few minutes, Jimmy had been moved onto a wheel chair for transport to his new room and was on the move.

-\\-

The blonde marshal was drifting in and out of sleep. The drugs were making her feel sick to her stomach. Her leg was throbbing, her head was swimming and exhaustion kept grabbing her attention. But her best friend had given her news that was keeping her awake in anticipation.

She wasn't sure how long her eyes had been closed when she sensed someone nearby. She slowly opened her eyes and her stomach flipped. It was Jimmy. He looked on the grayer side but was sporting a smile that reached his eyes. It warmed her all over and she could feel tears running down her face.

The nurses parked his chair close enough that Jimmy reached his good arm over to hold Annie's hand. She squeezed it as her vision of him blurred. She blinked more tears away, smiled and struggled to sit up.

Jimmy, familiar with the hospital bed reached for the controls and the head of the bed rose to meet Annie's struggling torso. He grinned at the relief on her face. In his deep gruff voice he comforted, "Hey, lay back. You're tired, aren't you?" He let go of the bed controller and reached up to push an errant wisp of hair out of her face.

She nodded. "Are you okay?" she whispered, concerned.

He smiled again and almost chuckled but it hurt too much. "Yea, I'm gonna live. Look, just lay back and sleep. I will stay here until you drift off, ok?"

She nodded again, smiled and gingerly wiped the tears from her bruised face. Jimmy wiped a stray tear that she had missed and took her hand in his again. His grin gave away his sentiment.

Annie leaned back into her pillow and finally let her eyes drift closed. It was a mere moments and she was sound asleep, her grip on Jimmy's hand loosening until he looked up and nodded at the nurses. He was ready to go to his new room.

Daisy grinned at him as he was rolled out of Annie's room and past her down the hall. She couldn't help but think that those two had a steep slope ahead of them but she believed they would somehow work it out. It was sure going to make things interesting in the coming weeks, nay, months. She pushed away from the wall she was leaning on and turned to see Marco coming down the hallway toward her. He had a bag of something that smelled delicious in his hand.

"Did you see them?" Marco looked antsy. But he relaxed when she responded.

"I think Annie is asleep. They just rolled Jimmy into his room." She glanced at the bag in his hand and raised her eyebrows. "Is he allowed to eat yet?"

Marco showed his pearly whites as he stated, "My man needs some real food! I brought him some of my home-made Barbeque! " And he continued down the hall still talking as he headed toward the room she had pointed out, "Barbeque heals everything!"

He flashed her that grin one more time before pushing his way through the door and calling his greetings to the marshal inside.

She shook her head laughing to herself, "boys!" and she headed down the corridor toward the elevators. Before the elevator bank, she came across an open door. It was Ben's room. And there was an unmistakable giggle that emerged causing her to pause before passing by.

Apparently the bedside manner at this hospital suited the bounty hunter just fine. There, flirting with her patient was Nurse Maggie. And the grin on Ben's face showed that it was just the medicine he needed. Clearly he was going to survive his gunshot wound just fine.

Daisy continued to the elevator bank, pushed the button and waited. When the doors opened, there stood an anxious Luke. He was still looking at the floor number inside the elevator so had not seen her yet and almost walked right into her.

"Hey! Have you seen Annie or Jimmy? I tried to call Marco but he didn't answer his phone. Are they OK? Is Ben here too? Does he know about Annie and Jimmy? Is he mad?"

"Luke, calm down. We are not in a soap opera. Marco is serving Jimmy some homemade barbeque in room 412. Annie is sleeping right now but she is in 408. Luke is flirting with Nurse Maggie in room 425." Daisy quietly recited and tilted her head. The door closed behind Luke and he just stared down the hall.

She pushed him down the hall calling "go hang out with Marco and Jimmy. Room 412" and she punched the elevator call button again. He looked over his shoulder with a grin and moved down the hall looking at room numbers as he went.

She got on the elevator and headed to the lobby. Her plan was to go home, have a bubble bath and take a long nap when she saw the Houston PD car parked in front of the entrance. The officer was standing outside his vehicle almost at attention. She sighed and walked up to him. She already had an idea what this was about.

"Ma'am? Do you know Marshal Annie Frost?" the anxious officer stuttered after spotting the badge on her hip.

"Yes sir, I do. Does this involve a large drooling Rottweiler, officer?" She put her hands on her hips and watched as the officer backed away from the side of his vehicle to reveal the massive head of 59 in the passenger window. The dog took one look at Daisy and flung his monstrous body out of the open window to attack her with wet kisses.

"Woah! 59! Get down!" She looked at the officer and smiled. "I'll take him. You can go."

The look of relief on the officer's face made Daisy laugh. She grabbed the Rotty's leash and turned to continue toward the parking garage. But 59 sat his beasty bottom right down and refused to move. The motion, or lack thereof, almost yanked her arm out of socket.

"59, we need to get home. Annie isn't coming out for a while and you cannot go in there to see her, buddy." Why was she talking to a dog? But 59 looked at her as if he was listening but not agreeing with her excuses. She patted the top of his head and yanked him harder toward her vehicle. "Come on big-guy! It is time for a well-deserved nap! I'll bring you back later and maybe we can get Annie to the window so you can see her."

Highway 59 slumped at the news but followed behind, clearly depressed. Daisy wasn't sure how these next few days were going to go with her new four legged roommate. She was just glad that Annie was back and safe.

THE END

Sneak peek at new story:

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Marshal Annie Frost had been in the hospital for a week now. The infected gunshot wound to her leg seemed to be healing properly though it still needed to be cleaned and bandaged daily. The surgery to put a plate on her cracked orbital bone had been successful but the bruising was still dark and disturbing.

She had been given permission to walk with the assistance of a nurse but Annie just couldn't wait until a nurse was available. She was going stir crazy in her hospital bed and was desperate for some sort of change of view. She needed to get moving.

When her cell phone rang she grabbed it up happy for the distraction. "Hello?"

"Annie, it's Daisy. 59 is going to drive me crazy! Can you get a nurse to bring you downstairs so he can see you?"