Disclaimer: don't own

"Are you alright?" George asked with concern, looking at Elliot. He didn't respond. George sighed.

"Elliot, please tell me what's wrong."

Finally, after pausing for a few minutes, he murmured "I'm worried about you talking to this suspect." George looked at him with sympathy, and Elliot shook his head.

"I don't want to be analyzed right now. Let's just do this." George and Elliot walked into the interrogation room. Eventually Matthew Brodus was led into the room.

The interrogation seemed to be going well- until George noticed he'd made a grave mistake. He'd failed to notice Brodus asking for the time in order to line up a shift change. Hands wrapped around his throat, his head hit something hard, and then it all went dark.

Elliot lunged at the man and got him off George. Brodus was attacked by the guards and taken away,

Then he checked George for a pulse. A faint one was there. He felt a little alarmed to notice exactly how faint the beats were. Pulling up George's eyelids revealed a blown pupil. He swore out loud.

A bus arrived and loaded George up. Elliot rode with them. He heard a lot of words as the paramedics worked on him, and though he didn't understand most of them, he recognized that they were grave.

"Depressed skull fracture."

"GCS of 5..."

They arrived at the hospital and Elliot was pushed into a waiting room. Eventually a grim-looking doctor came to him.

"Is he..." Elliot began.

"He's alive, but he has a depressed skull fracture that will require surgery, and a severe concussion. We aren't sure if he'll survive." The doctor admitted.

Elliot closed his eyes, preparing himself for the longest night of his life.