"No Danny, its fine, Mac will be here soon. I promise I'll be careful," Lindsay said once more down her phone.
She had been called to a diner on 75th Avenue where a shooting had taken place, but no one was there to process with her. Detective Long had been called away on a different case, but he had already cleared the rooms, so Lindsay felt a little more secure. The body was lying on a table in the centre of the room, and Lindsay's suspects were waiting patiently outside, talking amongst themselves but giving Lindsay all the space she needed. After a few minutes, she found herself following a trail of blood drops to the back entrance of the diner. As the blood trail came to an end she heard the door slam and what sounded like a gunshot. Within seconds she had fallen to the floor, clasping her stomach in agony. Faint footsteps could be heard walking away and when she glanced up at the man who had shot her, all she saw was a smirk before falling out of consciousness.
When Mac arrived to the scene, he had expected to find Lindsay there. Her kit was there, as was her cell phone, but for now he assumed that she was outside talking to some of the suspects so he continued to process the surrounding area. Starting with the outside, which he thought was where Lindsay left off, he put down his kit by the door and stepped outside.
"This is Taylor. Immediate back up required, officer down, 75th Av," He bellowed into a walkie-talkie.
Mac had found his co-worker's lifeless body on the ground. She had obviously been there for a while; the amount of blood on her shirt was a clear indication of that. He felt around for a pulse, not wanting to disturb the body but feeling the need to check that his friend was all right. The pulse was weak but it was there, which to him was at least a good sign. Sirens were heard in the distance, but as they got closer Mac could tell they were not for Lindsay, since they soon faded just as quickly. Heels clicking along the marble floor could also be heard very quietly, but Mac just ignored it; soon, Stella was standing right behind him. She had no idea that the officer down was Lindsay, but instead of feeling incredibly upset, she just said, "I want this case".
Stella put down her case too, hers was almost next to Lindsay's body. Part of her didn't want to touch Lindsay, she looked too fragile, and Stella was scared she might break her. Another part of her just wanted to cry and hold her friend. But her forensic training took over; she quickly got out her camera and took a few shots of the body. A few were all she really needed, Stella had always focused more on the actual scene when she felt emotional with the body; despite asking for this case, she really had no idea how she was going to handle it. Lindsay was one of her closest friends; they were going to have dinner after work to celebrate her promotion to Level 2 CSI.
Mac placed a reassuring hand on Stella's shoulder. He didn't have the heart to tell her he had to leave the scene. Another CSI was on their way but it was not one of their own. Not did he not have faith in Stella – quite the contrary – he just knew she would need some degree of emotional support right now.
"I can't do this right now, Mac," She whispered, standing up to face him.
"Its ok Stel, Swing can take over for now. We need to be here for Lindsay, I'll get the case back when we know she's ok"
Stella glanced down at the body, "She's a fighter, and she'll pull through this"