Disclaimer:I don't own the characters of CSI:NY; they belong to Anthony E. Zuiker and CBS.
Author's Note: After a prompt from a reviewer, here is a Fiesta tag ending to "Don't You Dare Say Goodbye."
His ears were ringing.
His head was killing him.
What made it worse was that he'd felt it before. Except this time, there was no throbbing, stabbing pain in his chest. His entire body didn't feel like it had been run over by a fleet of Mack trucks.
This time, he felt like he was going to live. Not like he was going to die.
Don Flack, Jr. attempted to open his eyes. The first glimpse of bright light made him slam his eyelids shut again. A little fast. Must go slower. He carefully opened the left eye. Half the room greeted him in fuzzy focus.
A voice met the sight, saying, "Hey…welcome back to the land of the living."
He couldn't see the person the voice belonged to on that half of the room. So, gently, he eased open his right eye. The room swam fully into focus, and the face the voice belonged to smiled at him.
He coughed. Wow, he sounded awful. Like he'd been a chain smoker for ten years.
"All right, you just smile and nod, I'll do the talking," Stella Bonasera said with a knowing smile. Her beautiful eyes turned serious, and she looked at him with concern. "Do you remember what happened?"
He closed his eyes again, thinking. Do I remember what happened? He thought carefully, though it pained him to do so. Suddenly, bits and pieces came to him in flashes. Flashes of flame and light and smoke. Finding Nick. Turning around.
Then nothing.
"Danny carried you out of there," Stella was telling him. "We thought you were dead," she said grimly.
I didn't need to hear that. I've felt that way already.
"But the doctor says, lucky you, that you have a concussion. And a lot of bruises." She winked. "All of which the nurses will be happy to hear, I'm sure, and that you'll regale them with the story of your adventure."
But I don't want to talk to the nurses. I want…I want to talk to you. He opened his mouth to speak again, but Stella held up a hand. "No talking for a while." Her green eyes stared at him...and were those tears at the edges? "Don't you ever scare me like that again," she chided him. "Not again. You've had more near-death experiences than I can handle." She got up from the chair, and sat on the edge of the bed.
He reached for her hand. It seemed like the right thing to do.
He waited. Take it. If I can't tell you how I feel…then I need to show you.
Stella smiled. And she grasped his fingers and squeezed his hand.
I won't do it again. This is my promise. His eyes bored into hers, looking beyond the green of them. Green eyes and blue eyes met, melded. Hands held.
Words weren't needed.
Eyes and hands said enough.