Disclaimer: I don't own anything from CSI NY. Just borrowing them for a little while :)

Thanks so much to all those who have reviewed and supported my other stories so far :) you guys are awesome! Thank you so much. Keep it up!

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"NYPD!" Flack and Mac burst through the apartment door, guns at the ready. Moving quickly through the apartment to the living room both stopped in shock at the sight.

On the floor lay Stella's boyfriend Frankie with three bullet holes in his chest. A few feet away was Stella. Panic grabbed him by the throat at the sight of Stella lying so still on the floor.

"Stella!" Rushing over to her Flack knelt and pressed his fingers to her neck, checking for a pulse. Relieved to find one, albeit weak, he shouted, "I got a pulse. Call for EMS!" as he turned back to Stella he could hear Mac in the background radioing for the paramedics. Rolling her to her back he did a brief check.

"Oh God! Stell? Stella? Can you hear me?" Fear mixed with anger pulsed through him as he saw the bruises on her face that looked to be from a fist. Running his hands down her arms he saw the lacerations on her wrists and there were cuts and abrasions covering her arms and hands. She looked like she had put up a hell of a fight. Brushing her hair back from her face, he took a deep breath and tried to push the worry and fear into the background. He couldn't lose her now. He'd never told her how strong his feelings were for her. She saw him as just a good friend, but he was totally and completely in love with her. If she didn't make it through this…he wouldn't get the chance to finally tell her and he would regret it for the rest of his life.

He looked up as Mac approached, "EMS will be here in a few. Is she ok?"

Flack nodded, "Yea I think so, but we need to get her to the hospital soon. No idea what kind of internal injuries she might have. Looks like she put up a hell of a fight though."

"She's strong Don. She'll pull through." Just then the paramedics came through the door forcing Don out of the way so they could check her and get her loaded onto the gurney.

Flack watched numbly as they started out the door. He turned at the hand on his shoulder.

Mac looked at him with compassion, "Why don't you ride with her to the hospital?"

Flack nodded slowly. "Yea…ok. You got everything here then?"

Mac gave him a small push. "Go we'll be fine. The team is coming and I'll give Angell a call too. She'll want to be here to help. We got it covered. Go."

Don turned and followed the paramedics down and out of the building. He watched as they put Stella in the ambulance and he climbed in after her. He sat down near her head and picked up her hand. Wrapping both his hands around hers he brought it to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on it.

"I love you Stella. And if we get through this I promise I'm not gonna waste another day. I'm gonna tell you how I feel. Life is too short and I've been wasting time not telling you." His voice cracked with emotion. "I would regret it forever if something happened to you and I never told you how I felt. I love you Stella."

Emotion overwhelmed him as he bowed his head until his forehead was touching their hands.

Slightly, so slight he almost didn't feel it, Stella's fingers squeezed his hand.

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This isn't going to be a full length story...but i wanted to do a few chapters. So there is more to come! Please, please, please review! Thank you!