It took everything he had not to tear out of the cafeteria and race up to ICU to see Jamie. The nurse's announcement brought everyone to their feet, Nick and Brian even high-fived each other. Kevin thanked the nurse for telling him, then walked out of the cafeteria, not even looking to see if the others had followed him or gone back to the waiting room to tell everyone else. He punched the up button to the elevator several times, and shifted impatiently from foot to foot as he waited for the elevator to reach the main floor. He had just decided to walk up the ten flights of stairs when the doors opened.

Finally, the elevator carried him up to ICU and he was looking into the unit through the glass window. The doctor was in there with Jamie, and Kevin could see that she was moving slightly in the bed on her own. He stood there frozen for a moment, grateful but unable to really believe it. When the doctor looked up and saw Kevin standing there, he beckoned Kevin to come in. That shook him out of his trance, and he opened the door and walked in.

The doctor moved so that the two of them could see each other. Jamie was awake, but just barely. She was having trouble keeping her eyes open, but she saw and recognized her visitor.

"Kev?" she croaked. It was difficult to talk with the tubes down her throat, but she tried anyway. He moved forward, and reached for her hand.

"I'm here, Jamie, I'm here. Ah, you have no idea how happy I am to hear your voice, baby," he said, smiling down at her.

"What. . ." she tried to say more but ended up choking on the breathing tube. The doctor came forward and helped her to breathe normally again, and advised her not to talk.

"She will anyway, she's just that dumb," said Kevin softly but still grinning. She weakly tried to swat him, and his smile grew bigger. Leaning down, he kissed her temple and whispered, "You can get me back later, baby." She nodded slightly. Kevin ran his hand through her hair, and she closed her eyes again, this time with a contented look.

Kevin looked up at the doctor, not stopping his ministrations. "She's alright, isn't she?"

He nodded, "Yes, everything looks good. She is having a little trouble breathing though, so we'll keep her on the respirator while she's in ICU. I figure we can move her to a regular room by the end of the week. She's still slightly disoriented though, doesn't know exactly why she's here. I was just starting to explain when you came in. I can explain later or you can do it."

"Doesn't matter who does, but I'm not sure if I could get through the explanation." The doctor nodded again.

There was a soft knock on the door, then it opened. Everyone came into the room at once. At first the doctor tried to shoo them out, but Kevin shook his head and asked quietly to let them stay.

"Alright, but ALL of you are leaving in fifteen minutes. She may have just woken up, but she still needs to rest." The doctor noted the mutinous expression on Kevin's face, "That includes you, Mr. Richardson, and I will kick you out, so don't think you're staying."

The others chuckled at Kevin's expression. "She needs. . ." he started to say, but was cut off by the doctor.

"She needs rest, Mr. Richardson," he repeated. "I'll be back in fifteen minutes to make sure she gets it." The door closed quietly behind the doctor. Kevin nudged Jamie slightly, "Baby? Hey, look who's here to see you."

Jamie's eyes slowly opened, and she blinked several times before focusing on the group of people surrounding the bed. She tried to speak, but the tubes were still blocking her throat, so all that came out was a low "ah" sound.

The others tried to reassure her, and spent the time talking to her and making small jokes to get her to smile. She laughed once at something Howie said so Kevin and Nick held her and tried to help her while she choked on the respirator. Kevin said little the entire time, just stared at his wife and continually stroked her hair where it flowed from her temple. Jamie tried to keep up with the conversations around her, but she found it difficult and tiring. Instead, she met Kevin's eyes, and the message she conveyed to him in those looks needed no words spoken aloud.

Brian watched his cousins slightly misty eyed, and discovered that a hand had found its way into his. He looked over to see Leighanne smiling at him, the same message in her tear-filled eyes directed at him. He nodded and squeezed her hand, saying quietly, "I love you too, Leigh."

The doctor came back exactly fifteen minutes later, and kicked everyone out of the room. He closed the door on a grumbling Kevin, which got Jamie to chuckle. The doctor handed her a small white eraserboard, marker and eraser, and told her to write anything she wanted to say, if she could. She nodded, and began scribbling on the board.

"What happened? Why am I here?"

"Do you know where you are?"

"A hospital," she wrote.

"I meant do you know where this hospital is? What do you remember last?"

A frown appeared on her face as she thought. "You speak English with a southern accent so I guess I'm still in Lexington. I remember dancing with Kevin at our wedding last night. Remember going to the suite after the reception. Remember being in the suite with him. . .but not telling you any of that. And remember waking up this morning in the hotel. That's it."

The doctor chuckled as he read what she had written. "I don't want to know the details of your wedding night, thanks. But I’m afraid that it wasn't last night, it was two nights ago. And you don't know what happened after waking up yesterday morning?"

She shook her head, wrote something, then tapped it with the marker. "WHAT HAPPENED TO ME? WHY AM I HERE?"

"As you were leaving the hotel, someone shot and tried to kill you."

"I was shot? Kevin too?" Her brown eyes were large as she moved restlessly in the bed. The doctor put a hand on her arm to calm her down.

"Relax, he's fine, you just saw him. He wasn't hurt at all, no one else was except you." The doctor then relayed what had happened to her. Jamie began choking, growing more agitated by the second. The doctor tried to calm her down again, but she wouldn't stop moving around. She wrote on the board again.

"Kevin."

"You need to rest, Mrs. Richardson, and that means no visitors for a while." Jamie shook her head, and pounded the board where she had written Kevin's name.

The doctor sighed. "You both are very stubborn people, I have no idea how you two get along." She just looked at him, and underlined her writing. "Fine, I'll get him. Give me a minute." Using the phone, the doctor called the nurses' station and relayed Jamie's request.

Kevin rushed back into the room almost as soon as the doctor replaced the phone. Jamie calmed down immediately, as Kevin sat on the bed next to her and cradled her in his arms. The doctor snorted, "Why am I not surprised you didn't go very far. Stay as long as you like if that's the only thing calming her down. I'm not going to argue with either of you anymore. Just make sure she doesn't overdo it, alright?" Kevin nodded, and the doctor left the room shaking his head and hiding the smile on his face.

Kevin could feel her shaking in his arms, and he carefully pulled her closer to him. "Hey, it's alright now, Jaim, you're going to be fine," he soothed her, kissing her lightly on her temple. "I'm here, baby, I'm here. Just relax, okay."

"Kev. . ." his name came out very softly as she tried to talk around the respirator, and tears trickled down her face. "Kev. . ."

"Shhh, don't say anything." He ran his fingers over her cheek, wiping away the tears. She picked up the board and marker, shock still etched on her face.

"He said someone tried to kill me. Why?"

"I don't know, Jamie. The police are working on that, but they haven't said anything to me," said Kevin, purposely not mentioning the black roses since it would get her even more upset.

"Fan???"

"Sweetheart, I don't know. But anyone who would do this isn't a fan, trust me." Kevin reached for the board and put it beyond Jamie's reach. "Let's not talk about this anymore, just close your eyes and rest here against me. I'm not going anywhere for a while, okay?"

Jamie looked as if she was going to protest, but she really was exhausted and not in any condition to argue. She finally nodded, then moved closer into Kevin's body. He readjusted so that they were both comfortable, and she closed her eyes. She was asleep soon afterwards.

Kevin watched her sleep, and appeared for all the world to be calm. But he was finally going over everything the detective had said to him a couple of hours earlier. Logan couldn't say who the shooter had been, but the note suggested a stalker to him. After seeing the flowers, it was the first thought each of the other Backstreet Boys had. And it was Jamie's first guess too. He looked over at the board where he had moved it. Fan??? was still written on it, and it was all he could see.

Was it an obsessed fan? Someone who had been upset by the thought of him getting married? Someone jealous of his relationship with Jamie? Kevin didn't begin to understand what would lead to someone acting like this, but he needed to find out. Fan???; he didn't think so.

"Who are you? Why did you do this to us?"