Marshall and Stan had spent the remaining of the day and well into the night going through possible suspects in Mary's files. Worn out Marshall headed home to shower and change before taking over his night vigil with Mary.
Quietly pushing the door open he saw Jinx asleep in the chair, he walked over to her and gently touched her shoulder. "Sorry I'm late it took longer than I expected to get back."
Jinx tapped his hand in understanding. "Did you find the person who did this?"
"Not yet, I promise I won't stop looking until we find the person responsible." Marshall said determinedly.
"I know you won't but Marshall you need to take care of yourself too. I can stay if you want to go home and get some sleep." Jinx offered. The circles under his eyes had her worried about him; she couldn't ignore them anymore. The rest of them took time to sleep and recharge but he kept plugging forward non stop.
"I'm fine; I want to stay. Do you need a ride home? I can arrange one for you." Marshall had been surprised by her statements towards him; he wasn't use to her concern.
"No, I have the car tonight." Jinx answered. "Make sure you get some sleep." She squeezed his arm before heading out the door.
Marshall waited till Jinx was gone before reaching out to hold Mary's hand. "Hey Mare sorry I'm late but we keep tracking down leads. We ran into out friends from the FBI; thankfully no O'Connor. I forgot to ask them when they'll fix you house. I'll mention it next time I see them." He began to talk to her about work before he finally fell asleep.
Marshall's eyes flew open and he began to slowly check out the room; his instincts feeling like something was off. It was then he heard the door handle turn and he moved so that he faced the door. Brandi shouldn't be here for another half an hour and he felt like a threat was nearby. Moving his hand towards his weapon he removed it and laid it across his lap waiting for the person to enter the room before aiming.
The door opened and Marshall stood up fury written all over his face. "What in the hell do you think you're doing here? Get out of this room before I have you removed."
Agent Robert O'Connor looked at Marshall before stating. "I'm here to have a discussion with you."
"Well I'm officially not working yet and I know for a fact that you know where our office is. I suggest you go wait there and I'll be there in a few hours when my shift starts." Marshall couldn't keep the anger out of his voice. Before he could go on he noticed the increase in Mary's heart rate and realized she was reacting to his angry voice.
"Outside in the hall now!" Marshall managed a harsh but low voice and it seemed to have the effect on Mary's heart monitor he'd hoped for as he manhandled O'Connor out the door.
O'Connor was irritated with Marshall shoving him out into the hall. "Let go of me."
"Stay out of her room and I will. What did you think your presence would do? If you need to see me than you go to the office where I work and you can head there now. I'll make sure Stan is aware of your actions this morning." Marshall turned dismissing anything O'Connor may have to say and went back into Mary's room.
As soon as Marshall was sure O'Connor was gone he called Stan to tell him what happened.
"Is Mary okay Marshall." Stan answered half awake.
"No changes accept her heart rate accelerated when she heard my angry voice." Marshall was about to finish when Stan cut in.
"What the hell are you getting angry about in front of her for? You two work off of each other of course she's going to respond negatively to you being upset." Stan lectured.
"Well I wouldn't have been upset if O'Connor hadn't shown up in her room wanting to have a discussion with me. That alone would have gotten Mary to react. I forced him out of the room and told him if he had something to say it could be done at the office. I thought you might need a heads up." Marshall defended himself.
Stan rubbed his hand over his face. "I'll handle O'Connor and make sure he doesn't go near Mary again. Did he say what he wanted to discuss with you?"
"No but I have a feeling I'm not going to like it." Marshall cautioned.
"I'll see you in a few hours, try and get some more rest." Stan ordered.
"See you Stan." Marshall hung up and went back into Mary's room. Squeezing her hand to let her know he was back he whispered. "Sorry Mare didn't mean to get you worked up. Everything is fine all you need to do is concentrate and waking up and getting better." He watched her for the next two hours unable to sleep again.
Stan entered the office and was greeted with the sight of Agent O'Connor waiting for him. "O'Connor you've better have a damn good explanation for entering Marshal Shannon's hospital room especially after all the crap you've put her through."
"As I tried to explain to Inspector Mann; I needed to have a discussion with him." O'Connor stated agitated.
"You don't discuss anything with my inspectors without coming though me first. Is that understood?" Stan was angry. "Now whatever you needed to say to Marshall you can run by me before he gets in. Have a seat and close the door."
O'Connor did as was told before sitting in the chair. "I was asked by my boss to see if the two of us could work together on this to make sure that you get your shooter and we keep our case intact."
"They sent you to do this? What happened to the other two that were working with your undercover agent?" Stan questioned.
"They are still working with him but they wanted someone that if seen with your people wouldn't get associated with our undercover agent." O'Connor replied.
Stan didn't like this one bit. "They sent you because?"
"I believe to try and smooth things over between our two departments." O'Connor answered.
"What information do you have to add to what we have already?" Stan asked feeling there was more to this than what met the eye.
"So far nothing but I would be the contact between you and our undercover agent Derek." O'Connor replied.
"This couldn't have waited till this morning? I'll let you talk to Marshall when you have something useful. You stay away from Mary's room and family or I will make sure your days as an agent end. Do I make myself clear?" Stan asked.
"Yes." O'Connor got up to leave. "I'll be in touch."
"Call first." Stan handed him Marshall and his number and watched him leave.
Marshall came into the office a couple of hours later and noted that O'Connor wasn't there. Heading into Stan's office he waited while Stan finished up a phone call.
"What did O'Connor want?" Marshall asked the second he hung up.
"He's going to be our liaison with the FBI and their undercover agent Derek and the case." Stan noticed the disgusted look on Marshall's face and the snort of disgust he couldn't hold back. "I know that you don't like it and neither do I but right now it's not up for debate. I've been guaranteed by his superior if there's any misbehavior on his part than he will be dismissed from the case. They're also going to remind him he's not allowed near Mary or her family. I gave O'Connor instructions to come through me first."
"You think they're hiding something from us?" Marshall asked after seeing the scowl on Stan's face.
"I think they're investigating them for the violent gang and drug related activities and our witness put Mary in the center of it. They're worried about their case being blown as we investigate the shooting." Stan answered. "Marshall you're going to have to work with O'Connor and I expect you to be professional about it."
Marshall didn't like the idea but he knew Stan was right. "That's not a problem as long as he stays away from the Shannon's. They have enough to deal with right now and don't need him poking in their lives again."
"If he's anywhere near them I'll make sure his career ends." Stan stated firmly. "Any leads on her old cases?"
"The only two I could come up with were Horst Vanderhoff and Frankie Santoro." Marshall absently rubbed his chest when he mentioned Horst. "Horst is still in prison and Frankie's alibi checks out."
Stan hadn't missed Marshall's gesture or the memory that flashed through his mind of them wheeling Marshall by on the gurney and into the ambulance. "Alright so we keep focusing on the gang and let's dig into Francesca's background. There has to be something that we're missing."
"I'll start on Francesca's background and then I want to check and make sure none of Mary's witnesses have had any problems or threats just to be thorough." Marshall didn't want to take the risk that it might be something completely not related to Francesca although his instinct was telling him it had something to do with the gangs.
"When you're done with the witnesses I want you to go home and get some sleep before you even consider stepping foot in the hospital and trust me I'll know if you do." Stan warned. Marshall was pushing himself to hard and at this rate he'd be the next one in the hospital.
Marshall could tell Stan wasn't going to except a no. "Fine but I'm going to the hospital as soon as I wake up."
Marshall was frustrated by the time he walked into his home; tossed the keys on the counter and headed for his room. The day had once again proved useless in finding Mary's shooter. So far he hadn't found anything that stuck out in Francesca's file and he talked to Dershowitz to find they had nothing either. Sitting on his bed he took his boots off and lay down; shutting his eyes falling asleep almost instantly.
His dreams were plagued by images of Mary lying on the gurney blaming him for not being there, turning into her waking up and telling him she wanted a new partner; one that wouldn't abandon her when she needed them. He shot straight up and wiped off the tears that had fallen down his face.
"I'm sorry, Mary. I'm so sorry." Marshall's heartbroken voice echoed in the silence of his room. Not wanting to deal with the nightmares, he headed into the shower and changed. He might as well be at the hospital where he can tell her again in person how sorry he was.
Stan was sitting at the hospital watching Mary's lack of progress and worrying about both her and Marshall. He'd always feared what would happen to either one of them if the other didn't make it; they'd get by but somehow he had a feeling that's all they'd do. His train of thought was interrupted by the sound of the door opening; turning to look, he rolled his eyes.
"What part of I wanted you to get some sleep did you not comprehend?" Stan asked, agitated.
"I went home and slept just as you ordered, and now that I can't sleep anymore, I came here." Marshall answered back.
"You're wearing yourself out and it's not going to do Mary any good when she wakes up. She'll need you and you know that," Stan reminded.
"I'll be there for her and you know that, Stan."
"Marshall, maybe you should take something to help you get some sleep. The circles under your eyes are getting worse and everyone has noticed; if you don't get sleep I'm going to pull you from finding Mary's shooter until I'm sure you can still function," Stan warned.
"You can't do that Stan, I need to find the person that did this." Marshall realized he sounded like he was begging and honestly, he was.
"Then go back home and get some sleep. I don't want you back here or in the office tomorrow. Take a day for yourself and get some sleep. This isn't a request Marshall," Stan stated adamantly.
"Fine, you win. If she wakes up; you have to call me." Marshall needed that much.
"That I'll do for you. Now take a cab home and I'll have your truck brought to your house." Stan held his hands out for Marshall's truck keys which the younger marshal reluctantly handed over, and now prepared himself for the part he was sure his inspector wouldn't like.
"Mary's doctor has a colleague here that said he would take a look at you and prescribe you something to help you sleep if he deemed it necessary. He'll be here in about ten minutes. You arrived sooner than I thought you would."
"Yes Dad," Marshall mumbled grumpily, then sat next to Mary so he'd at least get the ten minutes with her.