The Shooting
Alicia and Cary were sitting at Alicia's desk. She was about to ask Cary if he would be her lawyer during the voter fraud scandal, when her phone rang.
"Alicia Florrick, No, Mr. Grant, your son is mid-trial. Mr. Gardner is Lockhart Gardner's top litigator. I'm sorry, but you're in good hands." She hung up, and looked at Cary.
"Wow, what are you doing?"
"Just trying to cool the waters Cary," she said standing to leave.
"Where are you going?"
"To court"
"Why? You don't have a trial today."
Alicia rolled her eyes, and turned to walk out of the office. Once she got to the court house she found the court room where Will's trial was, hesitating before opening the door.
This is not a good idea. Will is going to be pissed when he sees me. I have to tell him. I have to let him know the Grant's are thinking of finding new council. I will just tell him they called when he gets a break, and then leave. We don't have to have a long conversation. He may not even let me tell him. But it's worth a try.
She opened the door and walked in taking a seat a few rows behind the defense table. Will turned and looked at her with the all too familiar glare she'd gotten used to over the past few months.
Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. She thought to herself.
Will turned back around, caught off guard. What in the world is she doing here? Probably trying to throw me off my game. Low Alicia, really low. How did she even know I was in court today?
Things moved along. Some time later the judge called Will and Finn to the bench. As they approached, Alicia looked down at her watch, 11:00am.
Maybe the judge will break for recess soon. I can't wait here all day.
While the two lawyers were talking with the Judge, Jeffery turned and looked at the guard next to him, specifically the gun in its holster. He was nervous. The detective whose testifying just put at least one nail into his coffin. And he's tired of getting beat up in holding.
Before anyone had time to blink, Jeffery grabbed the gun from the guard, and started shooting. The first bullet hit the detective. Soon everything turned to chaos, as Jeffery continued to fire the gun.
Will, Finn, and the Judge ducked, but just as Will went down he remembered Alicia's presence in the courtroom. Suddenly the ridiculous feud he and Alicia had been in was set aside. He stood back up, eyes darting to try and find her. Then a bullet him, and another. He collapsed to the floor, and Finn did his best to drag him out of the range of fire.
Alicia was terrified. She hadn't had time to even process what was happening. One minute she was looking at her watch. The next, she was lying on the floor. She glanced down at her blouse, there was blood, she panicked when she realized it was coming from her.
What is going on? Gun shots, I hear gunshots. Where is all this blood coming from? Pain, I feel pain. Did I get shot? I think I've been shot. Will, I can hear Will, he's calling my name.
"Will, Will," she called, trying to answer his calls. Back. It wasn't any use, she couldn't find her voice. She began to feel nauseous, and the room began to spin. I need to know if he's okay. Someone help me please, I need to find Will.
"Will," she tried calling again, but she could barely breathe. Her eyes were growing heavy when she noticed a woman next to her pressing something to her neck. She grabbed the woman's arm, and tried to speak. But everything went dark.
"Alicia, Alicia, where are you?" Will called again.
"Mr. Gardner, stay down." Finn grabbed Will, preventing him from standing. "The officers will get this under control in a minute. You have to stay down. You can't risk getting shot again."
"But I need to know if she's alright." He tried, in vain, to get up again. Pain seethed through his leg. He looked down, and noticed the blood. He began to feel sick, and looked over to Finn. Finn helped him back to the floor, and put pressure on the wound in his neck.
"Alicia, Alicia, please answer me," he called again.
"Will, I'm sure she got out. I think we are the only ones left in the court room, and the gun is empty now," Finn said, in an attempt to reassure him.
Will continued calling her name, but soon it became to difficult to stay awake. He soon fell into unconsciousness.
/
"Kalinda, what's going on?" Diane asked, as she poked her head through the door from the courtroom down the hall. "Was that gunfire?"
"I don't know, I think it came from Will's court. Stay here I'll go check it out."
"No, I am coming with you."
"Okay, come on,"
The two women headed down the hall. The police were bringing Jeffery out in cuffs.
Kalinda walked up to one of the officers whom she knew. "Where are the lawyers? Did they get out?" Concern was written all over the two women's faces.
"Two of them have been shot, and aren't doing well. The paramedics are on the way."
"Both lawyers were shot?" Diane asked. Her heart began to sink.
"Yes, well no. There were three lawyers in the courtroom. Two of them have been shot. I'm sorry, but I really need to get back to this." The officer turned his attention back to his task.
Kalinda and Diane looked at each other puzzled. "Maybe they had another ASA in court this morning. Will didn't have any one else with him," Diane offered.
"Do you know the names of the lawyers, the ones that got shot?" Kalinda asked, interrupting the officer once again.
The officer turned and looked at her, but didn't say anything. Both women know from the look on his face that one of them had to be Will. Kalinda pushed past him, and Diane followed.
They entered the courtroom and walked down the aisle. There were traces of blood splattered all around. As they got to the first person lying on the floor they gasped, looking at each other in confusion, and shock. It was Alicia lying on the floor covered in blood, and a women sitting next to her trying to stop the bleeding.
"Please, can you help me? I can't get the bleeding to stop. The paramedics need to get here quicker. I don't think she will make it without some real help," she said, in desperation, tears streaming down her cheeks. "This is the Governors wife isn't it?"
"I… um… yes. Is she still breathing?" Diane asked, bending down, placing a finger to Alicia's neck.
"Yes, but barely, please can you help?"
Kalinda knelt down next to her. Diane grabbed Alicia's coat from the floor and tried to help stop the bleeding coming from Alicia's neck. Then she turned to Kalinda.
"What is Alicia doing here?"
"I have no idea!"
"Find Will," Diane said.
Kalinda stood, and walked to the front of the courtroom. She turned and saw Will lying on the floor, also unconscious, and bleeding. Finn was holding his hand, but couldn't do much else, because he'd also been shot.
"Please, he needs help."
Kalinda leaned down, putting pressure on Will's shoulder wound to help slow the bleeding.
"Diane," she called. "He's over here. He's in as bad a shape as Alicia."
"Kalinda what are we going to do?"
"Just hold on Diane, the paramedics will be here soon, and then we start calling everyone."
/
Two hours later Peter, the kids, and nearly everyone else close to Will and Alicia, were all sitting in the surgery waiting room at the hospital. They'd been given a private room since there were so many of them. Grace was first to spot one of the surgeons walking towards them.
"Which surgeon is that? Mom's or Will's?" Zach asked.
"I can't tell." Peter responded.
Everyone held their breath when the doctor entered, and removed his face mask. He wore a very sullen look across his face.
"Will's just come out of surgery. It doesn't look good. He pulled through surgery. But at this point, I am not willing to say whether or not he will make it through the night. He lost so much blood, they both did. And the entry wound to his shoulder was near crucial arteries. The wound in his leg was not bad. It will heal up just fine if he makes it. I am very sorry."
Everyone's eyes remained glued to the surgeon.
"And what about Alicia?" Kalinda asked
"She is still in surgery. The wound in her neck was much worse than Will's. I need to get back in and help with her. Again I am very sorry."
They sat and waited for another hour.
"How long is this going to take Dad?" Grace asked her father.
"I don't know honey. But hey, it probably means she will make it. If they didn't think that, they would have given up by now," he said, trying to reassure her. A few minutes later two surgeons walked in. They held the same sullen look on their faces as the first one had an hour before.
"Alicia has come out of surgery, but she barely made it. The bullet was lodged in her neck in a spot where we couldn't leave it. It was very complicated to get out. Even if she does pull through, there is a very high chance of neurological damage. The next twenty four hours will be very crucial for both of these patients. And we have to be honest with you. There is not a very good chance that either of them will make it. They are both in the recovery room, but unconscious. Alicia has been put into a medically induced coma for now. You are welcome to go in and see them. But please only two at a time. And feel free to ask us any questions you may have. If you need anything, please let the staff know."
After the surgeons left they all sat in the room, and just looked at each other. No one knew what to say. No one wanted to think about what would happen if one, or both died.