Oh my gosh, thank you for all the reviews! Everybody has been giving me positive feedback, and telling me that it's been super stressful, which is what I was aiming at. Thanks so much!

Disclaimer: I still don't own them. :)

Chapters: I'm thinking probably about five, maybe more or less, and probably an epilogue. :)

Well, the second chapter is finally here! Hopefully you like it, and please don't forget to review!

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Lindsay looked down at her hands, covered in the blood of her friend. Slowly, a tear slid down her cheek and plopped onto one hand, washing some blood away. A drop of white in a sea of red.

"Miss, are you hurt?" A young looking nurse came up to Lindsay, startling her out of her morose thoughts.

"What? Oh, no." Her voice was shaky, and it betrayed the feelings that she was trying to hard to suppress; uncertainty, fear, anger, worry, and something else she couldn't name. Uncertainty at whether Danny would live, and fear at whether she would ever be able to hear his voice again, and that hear him call her "Montana" again. Anger that Danny had been shot in the first place, and anger that he had to be heroic and save her. Anger that she was glad that he had. Worry that everything would change.

And then there was this unknown feeling that she was dealing with; it was different than anything she had ever felt before. But as soon as she thought that, she knew that she had felt this emotion before- she had felt this when her little brother was in the hospital with cancer. She had felt it when her father had broken his leg, and when her mother was in labor. It was worry for someone she loved.

But that didn't make sense- she didn't love Danny. She couldn't; he was just a co-worker.

He's more than that. He's a friend. Her heart argued.

You hardly know anything about him. Her head argued back.

You know a lot about him- you've talked quite a bit. And he knows when you're not feeling yourself- he can read your emotions like a book. That's something only your family can do. And you do the same for him; you comforted him after his brother was beat up, and after Aiden was killed. And you were there for each other after Stella was attacked and Don was hurt. You know what how he feels, and you're the one he goes to when he has a problem, and vice versa. You know him.

Her heart was winning the argument. And that was scaring Lindsay. She shouldn't feel this way about Danny, because he was just a friend. Once more, her heart argued back.

He's more than a friend, and you know it. He makes you smile and can brighten your mood in an instant. You look forward to seeing him during the day, and you actually want to work with him on cases now. Face it, he's grown on you and the reason you're feeling like this is because you have feelings for him. She groaned inwardly, trying to control her whirling thoughts.

"Miss, you really should go and wash your hands. The blood could be infected." Once again, the young nurse startled Lindsay from her thoughts.

"Oh, okay." The nurse nodded her assent, and then pointed the way to the restroom.

Lindsay let the water run over her hands numbly, not really feeling it. The water swirled around the drain, red with Danny's blood. Danny's blood. The thought brought everything into harsh reality. Danny was in the hospital, possibly dying, and there was nothing she could do about it. Tears started to spill from her eyes, and she gripped the edge of the sink until her knuckles turned white.

The door to the restroom opened, but Lindsay didn't look up. All she could think about was the fact that she had Danny's blood on her hands.

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By the time Mac and the rest of the team arrived, Lindsay was sitting in the waiting room again. Her hands were no longer bathed in blood, and her eyes were dry. "Lindsay!" Said woman looked up to see Stella running toward her before she was enveloped into a hug.

"Hi Stella." Her voice was still quiet and resigned.

Stella pulled her into another hug. "Are you okay?"

She choked back a sob. "I'm…I'm fine."

Flack, Hawkes, and Mac stood behind the two woman, not sure what to do. Finally, they sat down, and together, the five of them waited.

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A few hours later, the doctor finally came out, his scrubs covered in what Lindsay knew was blood.

"Mr. Taylor?" Mac stood up, and walked toward him.

"How is he?" Trust Mac to be so blunt. No niceties, no introductions, nothing. Just a question.

The doctor was silent for a moment, deciding how to make his next statement. "He's still in critical condition. We managed to recover all five bullets successfully, but there was still a lot of damage. He's lucky to be alive- by all rights he should be dead. Your friend here is a fighter." The doctor gave a grim smile before starting again. "The first bullet nicked his small intestine, and the second broke through the lining of his stomach. The third punctured a lung, but the fourth did relatively no damage. The fifth bullet though was the one that caused us the most trouble, and is the reason that he should be dead; the bullet entered his body and went through his sternum bone, slowing down just enough that it entered the heart, but did not go through it. The internal bleeding was…well, let's just say he lost a lot of blood. But, we managed to get all of the bullets out and were able to repair the organs."

There was a moment of silence as the doctor let his information sink in. "He's going to live though, right?" It was Flack that spoke up.

The doctor was silent again, prompting Flack to pose the question again. "Doctor, he is going to live?"

The doctor sighed, and then continued. "I'm going to be blunt here. If he doesn't make it through the night with problems- especially with his heart- than his chances of survival drop tremendously. However, if he makes it through the night without any issues, the survival rate is much better." Mac nodded, and the doctor turned to leave.

"Can we see him?" Lindsay's voice was quiet and hoarse from the crying.

The doctor spun around, taking in all of the grim faces before answering. "One at a time, for no more than ten minutes each. He won't be awake though." They all nodded, and finally the doctor left.

Mac looked at all of them, before he finally spoke. "Lindsay, you go first." He explained at Lindsay's confused look. "You've been waiting the longest, and you were there when he was shot. Go."

Lindsay didn't need to argue- she wanted to see him so badly, just to reassure herself that for the moment at least, he was alive. However, the sight that met her was something that she was not prepared for.

Bandages covered all of Danny's torso, and some of them were red with blood; this proved her suspicions that the nurse would be coming in soon to change the gauze. As soon as the thought crossed her mind, the same nurse that had told her to wash her hands came bustling in, white cloth in her hands. "Excuse me." Lindsay moved to the side to let the woman by, and watched in horror as she gently removed the bandage covering Danny's heart.

A long cut started at the bottom of his throat, and disappeared into another bandage. Exposed by the lack of dressings, Lindsay could see where the surgeons had cut into his skin to remove the bullets. Her breath caught in her throat, and she had to turn away. Still, a flood of emotions tore through her after seeing Danny so vulnerable. This wasn't how Danny was supposed to be.

Danny was the tough guy that flirted with everyone. He was the annoying pain in the butt that you loved nonetheless. He knew how to make you feel better about everything, and comforted you when you needed it. He was the guy that you looked to when you were feeling down. He was the tough guy that only cried when people he loved were hurt. He wasn't weak any other rime, and it just wasn't right that he was lying the hospital bed, helpless and defenseless. This wasn't how Danny was supposed to be.

Finally the nurse left, and Lindsay was left alone with Danny once more. After a few moments she took the seat beside him, and took his hand in hers. "Danny, I'm so sorry. If I hadn't…If I had just believed you when you said that someone was in the house, maybe you would be joking with me now instead of lying in this bed. But you have to get better. You just have to! Because…" She choked back a sob. "Because I have to tell you something, but I'm not going to tell you while you're hear. So you have to get better, you hear?" The tears were flowing freely. "You have to because I'm not going to tell you what I need to tell you here, and I know you like a challenge, so you've just got to get better so I can tell you what it is I need to tell you." The schoolgirl in her told her that she committed a grammatical sin- she had just said a run-on sentence, but her rational mind didn't care. She was also repeating herself, but once again, she didn't care. Her best friend could be dying, and she was absolutely powerful to stop it.

Stella watched the entire exchange from the doorway. It broke her heart to see her younger friend tearful and upset like that. But she knew what the younger woman was going through; it was horrible not to be able to tell someone you loved them until it was too late.

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Well, was it up to par? Don't forget to review!

Charlotte