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The Right Reasons 19: Goodbye My Friend Tuesday Morning Harm's Apartment The buzzing of the alarm woke Harm from a restless sleep, and he hit the snooze button. He hadn't been able to get to sleep at first, and then kept waking every couple of hours. With all the excitements of yesterday, it had made it hard for Harm to get a good night's rest. That was all right. He was picking Mac up this morning, and Sturgis had given him the morning off. Harm thought back to what he had felt when he saw Mac fall to the ground. That was fear like nothing he had ever experienced before. It reminded him that something could take one of them away from the other, in an instant. He renewed his resolve to move up their wedding date. Mac had not wanted to do that "just for the baby's sake", but he realized it wasn't. He wanted to treasure every moment possible as Mac's husband. Being a father was just a bonus. He turned off the alarm before it went off again, and quickly showered and dressed. Before leaving the apartment, he called and checked in with Sturgis to make sure nothing urgent had come up since last night. Nothing had. He packed some sweats for Mac (in case she didn't want to wear her uniform home), got in his car and joined what seemed like the rest of the free world on the drive to Bethesda. Fortunately there were no accidents, just heavy traffic. An hour later, he got to the hospital. He rode the elevator up the floor where Mac's room was. Harm tapped on the door, which was slightly open. "Good morning, how are you?" he called out. No answer. He peered around the door. The room was empty and the bed was neatly made. "Mac?" he knocked on the bathroom door. Nothing. "Excuse me, sir?" Harm turned around and saw a young nurse. "Where is Colonel MacKenzie? She was admitted yesterday and was in this room," Harm asked the nurse. "She checked out, sir," she responded. "How did she leave?" He thought to himself, if she took a cab home, I'm going to kill her. "A man came and picked her up. A Mr. Webb, I believe he said his name was, sir. Is there something wrong?" The nurse could see Harm's concern. Harm got his emotions under control. "No, I just didn't expect him to do that. Thank you for your help." He left the hospital and started driving. He called Sturgis and told him Mac had checked out, but he wanted to make sure everything was all right before he came in. He didn't tell him who had picked Mac up. Meanwhile, at Mac's Apartment "Clay," Mac paced around the apartment, "why did you do this to me? You let me think you were dead for months." "Well, you didn't seem to have any problems moving on," he replied sarcastically, "I noticed you and the Commander are awfully chummy. Congratulations on the baby, by the way. So, how long did you wait? A week? Two weeks?" "Clay, you don't get to ask those questions. You gave up that right when you disappeared off that ship. And let's not even discuss how you put your secretary up to making me think you were in Germany before then!" Mac grew angrier as all the hurt and grief she had felt came back. "Speaking of lying, did you really mean it when you said you loved me? Or did you just want to keep me hanging around until Rabb came to his senses?" Clay asked bitterly. He saw the tears in Mac's eyes, and realized the situation had gotten out of control. "Wait a minute, Mac. What are we doing?" "I thought I was going to get some answers, and all we've done" She wiped the tears that were now rolling down her cheeks. "I'm sorry I snapped at you. Let's start over." "That sounds good to me." He patted the sofa. "Why don't you sit down? You're making me nervous with all that pacing." She did so. "So, Clay, why did you leave? And let us think you were dead?" Webb sighed heavily. "Primarily, I did it to catch Sadik's second-in-command. Having certain people think I was dead was very useful. But secondly, I realized we needed to get a fresh start, apart from each other. I said I loved you, but I think it was leftover emotion from our experience in Paraguay. I knew if we kept the relationship going, it was going to destroy one or both us. This assignment gave me the chance to prevent that." Mac didn't speak for a moment. She looked at his face, and knew he was, finally, telling her the truth. "You are right about that, Clay," she admitted softly. "we were so wrong for each other. But I was determined to make at least one relationship work." Webb put his hand over hers. "And you will. Just not with me." Changing the subject, he asked, "So, how did it happen with Rabb?" She smiled shyly. "It just ... happened. I think both of us did a lot of growing up this past year. So what happens now?" "We go our separate ways. You have your life with Rabb, and I have mine," with Lynnea, he finished his sentence silently. "Don't worry, I'll still be around. For the next few weeks, as the tribunal starts up, and then I'll come by now and then. Just to make sure Rabb's treating you right." He stood up, and Mac followed suit. "So, until we meet again ..." Webb hugged Mac and kissed her on the cheek. "Don't be a stranger, Clay," Mac hugged him back. Neither one saw Harm walking up the sidewalk. He stopped as he looked up and saw Webb and Mac embracing in front of the window. He turned and walked back to his car. |