The cat was out of the bag. Jillian knew it. The knowledge was right there in Allen's gray eyes as he looked at her and Rafe.

Rafe had refused to let Chance grab a wheelchair and had practically erupted when she’d suggested she could walk.

Nope. He’d carried her into the ER himself. For everyone to see.

Annie and Wanda had both squealed when they’d seen them. Wanda had rushed over to cluck around Jillian.

Allen had gone straight to work.

Now everyone was watching them. Everyone. Even the pharmacy tech Jessica was down in the ER at the moment, staring.

It was Rafe's fault; did he realize that he was broadcasting exactly how he felt? In a completely-Rafe-didn’t-give-a-damn unprofessional way.

Not that she was any better, clinging to him like she was. To be honest, Jillian just didn't care anymore.

Let people speculate about her and Rafe; there were far worse men in the world she could be with.

She was more than willing to tell anyone who had the guts to say anything exactly that.

What she and Rafe did was no one else’s business. Period.

Allen had given her an injection to numb her back. Jillian just held onto Rafe, feeling more protective of him by the minute.

He was afraid for her. And she knew it. Understood.

His hand was tight on the back of her head, holding her close. Secure and safe. She hadn't let herself stop to think about why they were there in the first place.

Not yet, anyway.

She wasn't ready to face the fact that someone had nearly killed her again.

Jillian hadn’t been the target. There was no way she could have been. No one had known she was there.

No one had turned on the road last night. Chance and Houghton kept it as private as possible.

Anyone not supposed to be there would have stood out. She and Rafe both would have seen them. Yet they hadn't. Unless the person had parked somewhere and hiked in while it had been dark. Waited. Then jumped in their car and sped away after shooting at Rafe’s house; sped away loud enough for them to hear?

It was far-fetched. But she’d heard the tires, hadn’t she? And the glass in her back was a pretty big neon sign that something more than just him digging in a few files was going on.

"Who wants to hurt you, Rafe?"

He looked at her like she was crazy for a moment. “What do you mean?”

The man wasn't that dense, she knew that.

"I mean... someone wants to hurt you. It was your car that was ran off the road. And your house that was shot up this morning." She was aware of both Annie and Allen jerking around to stare at her as she spoke. "No one knew I was with you, either time. So what's going on? Do you think it has something to do with what we discussed last night?”

He hesitated. And that's when she knew he did suspect that very thing. And had been keeping it to himself. Why? To protect people? Or was it just because that was how Rafael Holden-Deane rolled?

"Total honesty, Rafael. Or I walk out of this hospital and never speak to you on a personal basis again. At all. Do you understand? There will be no secrets. I...can’t handle secrets and subterfuge. Not with you.” Her voice cracked like a big wishy-washy wimp at the end. Jillian didn’t care.

All she cared about was the man in front of her. The thought of him being hurt absolutely terrified her.

His hands, those big strong hands of his, cupped both of her cheeks. Jillian looked into his dark eyes. “Total honesty, sweetheart. It could be someone who knows I’m digging, but I just don't know for certain. I'm going to find out. And I will keep you safe, I promise you that. No matter what I have to do."

There was a world of hurt in his eyes and after what he had told her had happened to his friends after losing his sister-in-law, Jillian understood.

She wrapped her mostly uninjured arm around his neck and snuggled close. She shocked herself at how deeply she felt his pain. How deeply what he felt mattered to her in that moment.

"I know you will. I trust you." She whispered it into his ear. His hand dropped to her waist, below the worst of the lacerations and he pulled her closer.

Annie and Allen stepped out of Trauma C and just left them holding one another. Jillian looked up at him, as something shifted between them in that instant.

Permanently.

She did trust this man more than she did any other.