Along the drive Mac would feel his foot coming off the accelerator many times before planting it back to the floor as thoughts flew through his head. 'Should just leave her' His foot eased up on the pedal, 'Ain't no-one gonna treat you like she does' and his foot hit the floor again. Mac was at war with his mind even as he pulled up to the emergency entrance. One nurse was outside having a cigarette when she noticed Mac pull up. When he climbed out of the truck and she saw the blood on his shirt, she threw the smoke down and raced over to him. He heard her footsteps coming and turned to her, "Get a goddamn doctor" He growled, pulling Jaden out of the cab. Looking down at her, he couldn't take his eyes off her sickly pale skin and all the blood covering her torso. The nurse nodded and made a mad dash inside; calling out for help.

A gurney was bought out just as the dirty pair came through the door. He lowered to the bed and took a step back; his eyes not leaving her broken form.

"Mac" She hoarsely whimpered.

Without thinking he threw himself back at her side, "What is it?" He asked but didn't get a reply, "Jaden dammit" He could feel all of his anger coming back full force. Her hand moved to the railing of the bed and her heavy lids parted a small bit, "What is it Dennie?" He almost whispered.

"I'm sorry" She stated once again; emotionless and blank.

Mac nodded but still his anger bubbled, "Don't you dare!" He basically yelled, "You're gonna get fixed up and good, you hear me?" Jaden just nodded softly. The doctors wheeled her away and he was left standing there by himself. He weighed his options; he couldn't go and get Devon because he was most likely under Walter's watch and if Walter caught sight of Mac, he was likely to shoot him in the knees and skin him alive and staying at the hospital seemed like a waste of time but strangely his feet refused to move.

By the time Jaden came out of surgery nearly all of the doctors, including the ones not looking after Jaden, had been terrorized and threatened; one winding up with a black eye. Mac carried on and demanded to be taken to Jaden's room or else he would find it himself and since most knew Mac, they decided that for the sake of the healing patients; they would take him. He stormed into her room and stopped in shock. Her leg was in a cast, which was resting on two propped up pillows, he could make out the bandages on her shoulder from the bullet wound. She had a nasal cannula on and her hair was fanned out on her pillow. Mac took in the machines and everything around her; two bags on her right side, one for her IV and the other for blood. A nurse slipped in behind him and startled Mac as she came into sight to check her over.

"She'll probably be out for another day or so" The nurse offered softly. Mac said nothing as he continued to stare at the only girl he had ever had the time for. The nurse finished her business and stared at Mac for a moment, a knowing look on her face when he suddenly looked at her and left the room. He walked straight out the door he had come in and climbed in his truck. He moved it from the ambulance parking and into public parking. Mac sat in his truck with the window rolled down, chaining smoking for almost 3 hours; still fighting with his mind as to what he should do. He had a batch that was about due and thankfully almost done. He started up the truck and left the hospital, heading back into the desert.

17 hours after he had left Jaden at the hospital and Mac had made more than enough meth for the last of the batch and half of the next; he was dog tired and just wanted to sleep. Jaden had long since left his mind while he cooked and there didn't seem to be any trace of her coming back anytime soon. He wearily climbed in the truck and headed back to his house, desperate for a lukewarm shower. Once he pulled up, he walked inside and called out as he made his way to the bathroom, "Jaden, get me a beer and get your ass in the shower" Silence met his words. "Where the fuck are you girl? Do as I fuckin' say!" He shouted. Mac walked into the bedroom and took off his shirt and dropped it to the floor, "Getting my own fuckin' beer" He mumbled, "You're gonna get your ass beat you stupid bitch" He called out a little louder. When Mac entered the bedroom again, his dirty shirt caught his attention; the blood over the front. It all clicked back into place and he chugged the beer down, dropped the bottle on the floor and moved to the shower. Once he was half clean he headed back to the hospital, deciding that he didn't give a shit if he looked like a weak pussy- whipped bitch; he needed to see her and make sure she was ok. He'd come to that decision in the shower. After fighting the strange sensation in his chest, that only seemed to make him angry because he didn't understand it, he soon came to the conclusion that it was respect, want and dare he say it; maybe even love. Mac still shook his head over that last word; he didn't love anyone and no-one loved him. Except maybe someone did.

Ripping into the hospital parking lot, he moved up to Jaden's room. Setting himself in an extremely uncomfortable chair beside the bed, he looked at her. Her face had gained some colour and she didn't look as sick but she hadn't moved. He studied her face and all the lines on her skin but before long Mac felt his eyelids growing heavy and he succumbed to the darkness; laying his head on the side of her bed.

Monotonous beeping became clearer as she felt herself waking up. 'Where the hell am I?' She thought to herself. Her eyelids felt like lead as she forced them open and took in the room. Jaden saw her leg covered with a cast and the burning pain in her shoulder, although had dissipated some, was still reminding her of her injury. 'The hospital?' She questioned. Her mind was fuzzy but images were coming back and she suddenly remembered it all; Devon, the desert, the attack, Mac, all of it. 'MAC!' Her mind screamed. She could feel her heart rate start to climb but she was bought out of her panic by steady snores on her right side. Jaden looked down and saw Mac dead asleep. It was a rare moment captured by Jaden; all his defences were down, all the scowl and worry lines gone and he looked like a little boy. She smiled and gently ran her hand over his head. Mac didn't move and she made no attempt to wake him; just letting the peacefulness wash over the pair of them.

Mac felt something brush along his head, slowly and softly, and then it happened again and again. Whoever was interrupting his sleep was gonna get an earful. He lifted his head and looked around for the responsible party. Jaden had closed her eyes but continued her movements until she felt Mac move. Her eyes opened and she turned her head slightly to look at him. Just as she looked to his face, he locked onto her eyes and with lightning speed; cupped her face, "How you doing girl?"

She nodded, "I feel less like shit but I still hurt" Mac did something that surprised them both; he kissed her mouth gently. The tenderness was quickly forgotten when he stood at the door and yelled for a doctor. A doctor rushed into the room, not wanting the upset man to cause any more havoc in the hospital.

"When can I get her out of here?" Mac asked gruffly.

"I'd say a day or two. Everything is stable but you were severely dehydrated and had lost a lot of blood so we want to keep you in here just as a precaution" The doctor informed the pair but looked down at Jaden.

"Thank you doctor. Can I get something for the pain?" She grimaced a little. She hated being weak in front of Mac but she was tired and as sore as hell. The doctor nodded and went to fetch a nurse to get the medication. Mac and Jaden were left alone in the room and he couldn't take his eyes off her.

Jaden took in a deep breath and opened her eyes, looking for Mac "Is Devon still…"

"Not gonna talk about it til you're outta here" Mac growled firmly.

"But Mac, what if he comes after you?" Jaden asked worriedly.

"I can take care of myself" He grumbled.

"And who is gonna take care of him?" She asked harshly.

Mac flew down to the bed, a hand on each side of her body as he got right in her face, "I will. I'll take care of all of it"

"Let me help you" Jaden whispered.

"You can't do shit being all busted up" Mac exclaimed. Jaden broke eye contact and looked down at her lap. Mac backed up from her face slightly and looked at her; unsure of what he was feeling but yet he knew it was bad.

He didn't like this; he was feeling bad for making her upset. Mac didn't do feelings, he did what he wanted and if people got hurt then so be it. In fact Mac got off on causing pain, he had done it to Jaden multiple times and loved it but now he had an uncomfortable feeling in his chest and it was making him feel bad. He pulled away completely, trying to work out this feeling in his chest. The unfamiliar feeling was making him confused which in turn was making him angry and he desperately wanted to hit someone or something. He looked down at Jaden again before leaving the room, the hospital and climbed in his truck.

"Mac?" Jaden looked up, noticing his behaviour. "MAC!" She called out as he left the room. Pain radiated through her shoulder and she was forced to lay back and be quiet.

He sat in the cab for a few minutes before he got out and paced behind the cars, his anger floating away the more he paced and the hotter he got; the sun glaring on the asphalt, making him sweat and exhausting him. He was tired and hot and it seemed like he was walking around in a daze. Mac's anger had disappeared and he headed back into the hospital and up to her room. She was looking out towards the window when he appeared at the door.

"You know if you're gonna get mad and storm off, you should at least slam shit as you go" Jaden didn't have to look to know he was there; she felt his presence. "What's going on?" She asked, rolling her head to look at him.

"I don't know" He admitted in a huff. Jaden didn't say anything, instead voting to wait for Mac to finish. He looked down at her and started pacing, huffing sporadically as he turned and paced back to the other end of the bed, "It's like I felt bad for making you upset or something and I really didn't like seeing you like that" Jaden wanted to laugh but she knew even cracking a smile would cause him to close up shop and she was finally getting Mac to feel an emotion other than anger. "I don't like feeling like that" He growled. "And that shit don't fly with me. I kill people and I don't feel shit, I make people hurt and I feel good; fuck I've done it to you a heap of times but seeing you look upset like that made me feel like I'd done something wrong" He finally let out.

Jaden took a deep breath and slowly released it, "Mac, don't get mad but maybe you care about me" That earned her a hard, cold glare.

"I don't care" Mac stated.

"Ok then maybe I'm wrong" She sighed; leaning her head against the pillows.

Mac let the silence fill the room for a few moments, still pacing while his thoughts flew around his head at a million miles a minute. 'Do I care?' 'No I don't care. I don't care about anything, except myself.' But there was a thought in the back of his mind, nagging at him. Maybe he cared about her too. She's been around for years, putting up with his crap, carrying out his and his father's orders like a good little soldier. He couldn't picture what his life would be like if she wasn't around.

"I don't know" He growled under his breath. She held her hand up and waited for him to move closer. Gripping his forearm with her left hand, she put her right hand on his face, gently playing with his facial hair.

"It's ok Mac" She whispered to him. That tender moment was something that made all his thoughts clear and suddenly everything made sense. He did care about her. He stopped hurting her; one because he was off the meth and two because it made him feel bad. Emotions weren't something Mac ever learnt to deal with properly so he got angry when he felt something he didn't understand. But none of that seemed to matter as he attached his mouth to hers roughly; his tongue fighting against hers.

"I do care" He whispered, pulling away.

"I like that" The look he gave her held a warning, "Don't worry Mac I'm not expecting you to sit and gossip with me like a little teenage girl. I don't want you to do that. You wouldn't be Mac if you did" She nodded to him.

"I ain't gonna let anyone hurt ya anymore" He told her sternly.

"How are you gonna get them?" She asked quietly.

"We'll figure it out" Mac looked at her, a hard glare set firmly in his eyes. She could see the warning for Devon and Walter in his eyes and she nodded at him. Inside she was jumping for joy; Mac had admitted that he cared for her. Her trust and men issues calming themselves; thinking that she had finally found a man. One that was willing to kill and protect her. Her insecurities settled for the moment.