A/N: Although I thought I'd wait until I finished my stories in other fandoms to start posting some of my Rookie Blue stories, after watching the last episode (4x12), I just had to start sharing this story that came to me. This is my first time writing for Rookie Blue - I was only a sporadic watcher in previous seasons, so I apologize if I get anything wrong in the backstory.

This story picks up in 4x13, based on the promos that have been shown (the ambulance scene, as well as the promo that showed up at the end of 4x12). I hope you all enjoy, and please let me know what you think!

Sam Swarek took a shaky breath as he held up his hand and stared at the warm, sticky substance that covered it. Somewhere in the background, he heard additional gunshots ringing out and knew his officers were busy taking down Kevin Ford. He frowned, knowing he ought to be getting up, helping his team, making himself useful…in that moment, though, all he could focus on was the deep red color that coated his hand. It wasn't the first time he'd had a gun pointed at him - hell, it wasn't even the first time he'd been shot - but as he lay on the floor and tried to move his fingers, he was struck by how different this moment felt.

"Sam? Oh God, Sam, don't move, help's on its way!"

Andy. He could hear her voice, feel her presence beside him, but as he turned his head toward her, he couldn't quite bring her face into focus. He started to open his mouth to say her name, but only an odd, strangled noise came out. It was as though someone had flipped a switch and sucked the oxygen out of the room, leaving him fighting for air.

"Sam, don't try to talk," Andy said, a strain in her voice that Sam knew came from struggling not to cry. "The medics are here now, they're right here. Just hold on, okay? You're going to be fine."

Sam felt someone lift his head and slip something cool under his neck - a brace, he figured - but for some reason, he couldn't seem to muster the strength to focus his eyes on anyone's face. His eyes darted around as more and more voices surrounded him, seeking out something, anything at all familiar.

As his eyes started to droop closed despite his best efforts to keep them open, he could hear Andy's desperate pleas in the background and he fought to find her face. A split second before he lost consciousness, he finally saw a clear face - only it wasn't Andy, or Marlo, or anyone he knew could actually be there at his side. Instead, the last thing Sam saw was a young, petite blond woman, hovering back in the corner, a strange glow illuminating her long hair and a soft smile gracing her face.

"Mom?"

Andy McNally felt as though her world had been flipped on its head. For the second time in less than twenty four hours, she found herself kneeling over a fellow officer, her hands covered in their blood. She'd thought watching Chloe fade had been hard, with bullets screaming past and no idea how long they'd have to wait for help to get to them safely. Even knowing that Ford was dead on the ground a few feet away from them, kneeling there and watching Sam struggle to speak or perhaps even to breath, she was sure she had never been that terrified in her life.

"Sam, don't try to talk," Andy insisted, pressing harder against his wound as a paramedic knelt down next to her. "The medics are here now, they're right here. Just hold on, okay? You're going to be fine."

Andy was shaking as the medic lifted her hands off of Sam's side and she felt Nick's hands on her shoulders pulling her up and away from him.

"Come on, Andy, let's go get you cleaned you up," he said said gently.

Andy shook her head and squirmed out of his arms. "I'm not leaving him," she insisted. "I can't leave Sam, not like this."

"Andy, the medics are doing everything they can for him," Nick assured her. "There's nothing we can do here. Let's get changed, SIU is going to want anything with blood on it. Then we can go to the hospital and check on Sam and Chloe."

"You go," Andy said, not taking her eyes off of Sam's body as the medics carefully lifted him onto a stretcher.

"Decreased bilateral breath sounds, pulse is thready and weak…somebody clear that hallway, we need to move him now!" a medic shouted.

"Andy…"

"I'm going with him," Andy called out, rushing to follow as they started to wheel Sam toward the exit.

"Officer, I don't think…" one of the medics began, looking up to catch a glare from Andy.

"You want to waste time fighting me on this?" Andy snapped, already moving to climb into the ambulance.

The medic sighed and shook his head. "You stay to the front, out of the way, and you follow all instructions. Got it?"

Andy nodded, pulling herself up into the ambulance and taking a seat near Sam's head just in time to hear him struggle to speak.

"Mo…" he gasped, his voice barely audible before his eyes shut completely.

"Sam?!" Andy called out. "Sam, say that again. Sam Swarek, don't you dare give up on me!"

As she pressed her lips to his forehead and braced herself for the ambulance to start moving, Andy couldn't stop the tears from welling up in her eyes. The only trouble was, she wasn't sure if they were a result of fearing for his life, or because she could think of only one person with an 'M' name that Sam would be asking for - and even after everything that had happened, that thought was enough to knock the wind out of her.