Sharon Raydor sat in the hospital waiting room, the hand of Andy Flynn grasped firmly in her own. She looked at the clock for what felt like the 50th time in the last hour, and Andy just gave her hand an affectionate squeeze in return.

He again took in her appearance, furrowing his brow in a worried expression. She had dark circles under eyes, the white around the emerald hues were bloodshot, evidence of the many tears shed since they had arrived, and maybe even before that. She wore jeans and a simple t-shirt, her hair pulled back in a messy ponytail. Appearances, usually something so important to Sharon, meant nothing to her at the moment. To Andy, seeing her like this was unnerving. His Captain was usually a tower of strength.

They had been sitting in silence for a long time, and he felt the need to say something reassuring to comfort her. "Everything will be all right, Sharon."

She seemed to snap out of her haze and looked at him. "It's been hours, Andy."

Andy smirked at her. "Surgery takes hours, Sharon."

Sharon let go of his hand and started wringing them. "Why won't they tell me what's going on?"

He put his arm around her, ignoring the stares he was receiving from Provenza and Sanchez, who were there keeping vigil with them, previously engaged in a quiet conversation. "They will. They will be coming out of that door over there any time now to tell you that everything went well."

She rested her head on his shoulder, sighing in frustration. The two of them had become close, best friends. She wasn't sure she would have been able to go through all she had gone through with Rusty without him. He kissed the top of her head, holding her close to his side. They had shared their first kiss just days ago, both of them afraid to but needing to take their relationship to the next level. He loved her, and she loved him. Everything just felt so right and so natural when they were together. It was ironic and tragic to Sharon that she could have been so happy days ago, only to have her happiness shattered by what had happened hours ago…

She had walked through the door to her condo, sighing with exhaustion as she allowed herself to press her back against the door after she closed it behind her. It had been a long, very long, day and all she wanted to do was kick off her shoes, take a nice hot shower and head to bed. She takes her jacket off and hangs it on the coat rack, then slips her shoes off before making her way through the hall and into her living room. She turned on one of the lamps, and then realized that something wasn't right.

She looked around the room, and noticed that the drawers to the end tables were both opened and ransacked, pens and paper thrown carelessly to the floor. She turned around and could see into her kitchen, noticing right away that things were out of place in there, even though the room was still dark.

She swallowed and took a deep breath, grabbing onto the pistol she always kept on her holster, holding it in front of her as she made her way into the kitchen, flicking the lights on. She couldn't hear anyone, her instincts telling her that whoever had been there and made the mess was now gone, but she kept the gun in front of her just in case.

As she made her way around the kitchen island, she felt all the air leave her lungs, her heart pounding in her chest when she saw the boy who had become her family over the last few weeks, lying motionless in a pool of blood. The intruder forgotten, she dropped her gun and went to him, kneeling beside him. "Rusty! Rusty no…oh God please no…please, please, please…" She placed two shaking fingers on the side of his neck, searching for a pulse. When she found one, the relief she felt was indescribable. She realized that he was breathing, though his breaths were shallow. She reached into her back pocket and grabbed her cell phone, calling 911, then Andy who promised to meet her at the hospital.

She hung up the phone and placed it back in her pocket, then managed to check Rusty over to try to see where his injuries were coming from. She didn't want to move him, but it didn't take long for her to find the hole in his chest, dangerously close to his heart. He had lost a lot of blood, so much that she didn't even realize her knees were covered in it, her hands too. Her police training was what was keeping her calm, but inside she felt like she was drowning. How long had he been lying there? She shouldn't have left him alone for so long.

She gripped onto his hand, suddenly realizing that there were too many things left unsaid between them, all because of her stupid need to keep a mask on her emotions. "Rusty I'm here…please Rusty don't…don't you leave me. Please. I need you…you opened up my heart again…it was you…you opened up my heart…." It was then that she broke, not knowing what she would do if Rusty never woke up. She sobbed openly, reaching down to caress his hair, kissing his forehead. "I love you…you have to wake up so I can tell you that, okay? Don't you give up on me….please…"

Sharon suddenly got up and headed out of the waiting area, needing to be alone for a minute. She started to pace, ringing her hands in front of her. She tried to get the vision of Rusty lying on her kitchen floor out of her head, of her crew showing up at the hospital after they had collected all of the forensic evidence at her house. Provenza had even arranged it so a clean up crew would come in to clean it all in the morning, which was fine because Sharon knew this was where she would be staying, at least until Rusty woke up and she could finally talk to him, let him know that he wasn't alone.

Andy had waited a moment and then decided to follow her, watching her as she paced, shaking his head slightly as she did so. He knew that no amount of comfort would help her right now, although all he wanted to do was take away all of her pain. He got up and walked to her, putting his arm around her shoulders to stop her pacing. She looked up at him, tears in her eyes, but she managed a grateful smile, leaning against his chest. "You think he knew, Andy? Do you think he knew before he…" She had to swallow and take a deep breath before finishing her thought. "Before he was hurt…how much I loved him?"

Andy kisses the top of her head, wrapping his arms fully around her. "He knew, Sharon. I promise you…he knew."