Gail was the first to get up, which surprised them all. When Andy came back into the room, hastily wiping away the mascara lines streaking her face, Gail was the first to step forward and pull her into an embrace, whispering that she was sorry, that she was sorry, so sorry. Andy could only return her hug and stand there with empty eyes. Andy told of the doctors trying to save him, how she had been banished from the small room as quickly as she had entered. Walking from Gail's embrace, she collapsed in a chair a put her head in her hands. Tracy walked over and put her arm around Andy, who didn't acknowledge the gesture of comfort.

They stayed like that for what felt like hours, sitting silently around the waiting room, praying for good news. No familiar doctors or nurses came around again, but no one knew whether that was a good sign or a bad one. Eventually the waiting room began to clear, officers tired and restless to return to their own families, especially after the days' events. Soon only Andy, Frank, Tracy and Nick remained in the waiting room, which although large, threatened to suffocate them all with its stark white walls and crushing silence.

Eventually the original doctor returned, and informed the four that Sam had been taken up to surgery, and that they could follow him up to the waiting room on the surgical floor. They had just stepped out of the elevator when the doctors had rushed past with Sam, shouting unintelligible things and shoving people out of the way. It knocked the wind out of Andy, who wrapped her arms around herself and willed herself to keep breathing.

Her efforts were proven futile when, a second later, she blacked out.

Tracy's voice came out of a thick white mist, calling her name. All she could see was white. The mist swirled around her, growing thicker and thicker. She pushed her way through it and fell back to earth.

She opened her eyes to a steady beeping at her right and a soft voice at her left. Tracy sat in a cracked plastic hospital chair by her side, and Frank stood in the doorway of her room. Nick sat on the couch in the corner of the room, gaze sweeping the entire room.

"How long have I been out?" Andy rasps, vocal chords still clogged with tears.

"A couple hours," answers Tracy's' soft voice, "I brought you some clothes to change into."

The doctor, a different one, returns and tells her that she's free to go. She changes in the small bathroom; avoiding the mirror for sure thought that if she sees her own refection she'll start crying again.

She steps out the bathroom, looking up at Tracy, silently pleading for information.

"He's out of surgery. He's in a medically induced coma, but the doctor's think he'll wake up in the next week or so." Her voice is soft and slow, as if speaking to child about something they can't quite understand. Tracy steps forward to gage Andy's reaction. Andy squeezes her eyes and mouth shut, and wills the tears away.

"Okay," she chokes, looking at the floor. She breathes a deep breath, looking up, "Okay."

Tracy asks if she'd like to see him, and Andy nods. The odd group of four exits the hospital room and round the hallway. Up three floors, and around a corner, they come upon Sam's room.

They approach his room, and Andy looks through the window, at the mess of tubes and wires, and grips Tracy's hand. Tracy squeezes back, and together, they keep her conscious. Tracy offers her a seat, but she prefers to stand. Frank put a hand on her shoulder, tells her apologetically that he better get back to 15 to supervise, and to call with any updates. Tracy squeezes her shoulder and asks if she wants a cup of coffee. It's five in the morning, and besides blacking out, she hasn't really slept in over twenty hours. She smiles, and Tracy disappears down the hall.

That leaves her and Nick, standing alone in the hallway. If it were a different situation, she would berate herself on her bad judgment. Now that Tracy is gone, she's caught between her boyfriend and the man she just confessed her love for. Shit. She contemplates her choices, and not for the first time, throws caution to the wind.

"Nick," her voice cracking horribly, "I have to tell you the truth. In the ambulance...with Sam, I ended up telling him…I still loved him." She looks down at the floor, and then back up at him.

"Do you?" His voice is soft, like he already knows the answer. His eyes too, are shining with tears.

Her reluctant cry is answer enough for him, as she breaks his gaze a looks at the floor, arms wrapped around herself. She expects him to be mad, to cry, to get angry, shout even, but his reaction, is quite the opposite.

His bog arms wrap around her small frame, causing the tears she was holding to break free, and she sobs into his jacket. He holds her tightly, and she thinks if he lets go she'll fall even more apart. She cries apologies into his jacket, choking on tears and words alike. They stand like that for ages, him supporting her for all its worth, as she sobs out apologies and curses. After her sobbing has turned into a lighter stream of tears, and she's gasping for breath once again, he loosens his hold on her. Her arms are still pressed tightly against her own waist, her face still directed at the floor.

"It's okay Andy."

"No, it's not, its-"

He cuts her off, bending his knees so he can meet her eyes, and brings his hands to her shoulders. He holds her there, simultaneously holding her and wiping the tears that are still falling down her face.

"It is okay. It is." His voice is soft, like Tracy's, but he speaks with more conviction. "It is. Look Andy, I… I'm not stupid. And neither is Marlo. Okay? We've heard the stories about you and him." He wipes another stray tear off her cheek and she finally looks up. "There was a part of me that was convinced that I could make you love me as much as you love him. You do. Don't deny it. And it's okay. To love him. It is. I promise. But there was this other part of me that always knew we'd end up here. Come on Andy. No one here is stupid. We all knew you'd end up here. Well not here, in the hospital per say, but here, in this situation."

He stands back up smiling a little, "Hey we can still be break up buddies."

She smiles, and chokes out a tearful laugh. "Does everyone really know?"

Tracy returns, handing Andy and Nick coffees and joining into their conversation. "Oh yeah. We've been taking bets for months on when you two were going to get your acts together." She smiles, a teasing light in her eyes. "No offense," she says looking at Nick, who raises his arms in a gesture, "It's okay."

Andy smiles, and turns her head back towards Sam's room. Her smile fades, but Tracy takes her free hand and squeezes and somehow Andy knows that their story isn't going to end here.

No, this is where their story begins.