Disclaimer-- I don't own the characters
It was a day a lot like any other if you were a CSI. Stella spent her morning at a crime scene, then her afternoon with trace. At the end of the shift they all went out for dinner, hoping to take the edge off of a difficult case and a long day; and when Don's hand tangled with hers under the table, the feel of his fingers brushing warmly against her skin did a lot to soothe Stella's frustrations. Dinner seemed to help them all, and though they still had little to go on with their case, they all felt just a little bit better.
As they walked, laughing together back towards the cars, Don let her hand go so he could tie his shoe, and Stella found herself chatting with Lindsay a little way in front of the others. But laughter and good humor were shattered into thousands of pieces when they all heard the squeal of breaks and a warning shout. Stella barely registered that Sheldon had yelled Don's name when she turned to find him lying on the sidewalk, bleeding and evidently unconscious.
Her heart momentarily stopped, but she was kneeling at his side in moments. "Don, come on wake up for me." She didn't seem to be getting through and as the other crowded around her she shook her head. "What the hell happened?"
There was a car sitting up on the sidewalk behind a trash can that had become a projectile, and Danny was hauling the driver out. "Son of a bitch jumped the curb and rammed the can into him."
"I didn't mean to hit him, I swear! My friends and I have been playing this game tonight and I was trying to hit the can. I didn't see him behind the trash can I swear!"
Danny cornered the kid, closing ranks along with Mac and Hawkes. "That's an NYPD Detective you just hit kid. So you had better hope to God that he's okay."
Stella barely heard any of it. She was too focused on trying to bring Don back to consciousness, knowing that if she could do that chances were things weren't too horrible. "Come one Don, you've got to wake up for me. Open your eyes."
"It looks like he's moving a bit," Lindsay observed. "Keep talking Stella."
"You know you want to kick this kid's ass Don, come on wake up for me honey." She felt tears well up in her eyes when she saw his hand move a bit. "Come on wake up Don." Flack stirred, letting out a little bit of a moan, but still he didn't open his eyes. Starting to get panicky, Stella leaned back on her heels and decided to try something a bit stronger. "You know I'm impatient Don, and I'm only going to sit here for so long. I know you can hear me so open your eyes and look at me."
Another moan, but still no baby blues.
She blew out a breath, trying to hold back terror. "Don, I swear if you don't wake up… Donald Flack Junior I swear to God if you don't look at me right now you will never spend another night in my bed. You ever want to have sex again you had damn well better wake up and look at me!"
"God Stell, that's just below the belt," he croaked out.
A hysterical laugh bubbled up and she didn't even try to contain it. "He's okay!" she shouted to Mac and the others, then quieter, "He's okay."
Blurry blue eyes opened to meet hers, focusing quickly on her face. "What the hell happened?"
"I asked the same thing," Stella told him. "Some stupid kid popped the curb and rocketed the trash can into you."
"Well that would explain all the ow," he told her, struggling to sit up.
Stella pushed gently on his chest, keeping him on the ground. "We don't know how bad you may be hurt. Your legs are bleeding pretty badly and you cracked your head on the concrete so just stay down for a minute okay?"
Hawkes bent down, cell phone in hand. "I just called EMS, they've got a bus on the way.
"Usually that's my job," Flack joked, wincing when he smiled and sent a wave of pain through a cut on his face. "Stell, want to kiss it and make it better?"
Laughing, she leaned down to press a sloppy kiss to his mouth. "I love you."
"Wow, and I love you and a kiss in front of God and everybody within two seconds. I should get knocked out by flying trash cans more often."
The kid from the car, whom they had completely forgotten about, stepped up then. "Man, I'm so sorry Bro, I totally…"
"Did he honestly just call me Bro?"
Stella nodded. "Yeah, want me to beat him up since you're an invalid."
Looking at a very pissed woman, the kid had enough sense to try and back away. Too bad he backed right into Angell, who was ready with her handcuffs. "You're under arrest…"
They could here the kid whining all the way to Jess's car, and as the sirens approached, Flack looked up at Stella with a mock pitiful face. "Still hurts."
"You baby," she said quietly. But still she leaned down to kiss him again.
When he grinned up at her she knew it really couldn't be all that bad. "Still hurts."
