A/N: Not as many reviews for the last chapter but a lot of new author alerts. So I'll take that as a sign you guys are still liking this. Shippers not to worry romance is on the horizon. Thanks again to all who read!
A bullet for Danny chapter 3
Mac walked briskly down the corridor towards the lab. Dr. Peyton Driscoll was at his side. "I'm not going to sugar coat this" he told Peyton stopping just short of the door.
Peyton stared up at him with a large emerald colored eyes, "I don't think you should either, but you have to remember this is more than a just an ordinary victim here. This is Danny, those people in there are his friends" The medical examiner flicked her gaze inside where she could see Lindsay was hovering over the lab table processing a bit of evidence.
Mac's eyes followed suit and he felt his heart clench. "I know that" he said quietly pushing his way through the door. All the members of his team were present including Adam and Sid.
Stella's head was the first to pop up from where she stood at the lab table next to Lindsay. "How's Danny?" she blurted.
Mac brushed the tails of his navy colored blazer aside, placing his hands on his hips. "He's alive, but the doctor said it's touch and go at best" Mac paused for a moment watching the faces of his team sink.
"The bullet entered just above the collarbone and went in at angle, clipping the carotid artery and lodging itself in the esophagus. Danny lost a lot of blood. There was a considerable amount of damage to the esophagus which means if and when Danny's wakes he's not going to be able to speak, so we're going to have to let the evidence do the talking."
Mac's gaze fell softly over Stella and Lindsay. "Stella, Lindsay, I want the two of you to head over to the hospital and gather as much evidence as you from Danny as you can. Hawkes I want you to get a hold of Flack and go over all of Danny's recent cases. I want no stone left unturned."
What? Lindsay's face paled as she rounded the corner of the lab table, "Mac can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked quietly. Mac looked at the rookie probing the sense of urgency in her eyes.
"Sure why don't we go to my office?"
Obediently, Lindsay followed Mac and waited for him to shut the door. "I can't go the hospital," she said watching Mac flip through the messages on his desk.
"And why is that?" he asked cocking his head as Lindsay swallowed back a lump her throat. Tears were gathering behind her eyes making it difficult to speak.
"I just think I'd be more useful in the lab" she dared to breathed.
"The lab?" Mac repeated sensing that Lindsay was hinting to an incident in her past. .
"Come clean with me Lindsay"
"Mac, I can't" she replied feeling a shudder run down her spine.
Mac dropped the stack of messages, "Then I can't support your request"
Lindsay closed her eyes hanging her head, "Mac this is too painful for me"
"I understand that Lindsay but you need to get over it"
"Mac, I can't this is like De ja vu, I feel like Danny was shot because of me!" Lindsay's voice went up an octave. It was apparent she was too close to the situation to let rational win out. Just two years earlier, she'd seen her partner viciously gunned down by a perp they'd been staking out. The guilt had been almost unbearable.
"You have proof?" Mac slid one hip onto the corner of his desk. While Mac was inclined to sympathize with the young CSI, he couldn't ignore that were other factors involved. Factors that were a little closer to home than an ex-con coming after Lindsay. "Are you aware that prior to becoming a CSI, that Danny lead the life of a mafia prince?" It was also a well-known fact that Danny had ties to the infamous gang known as Tanglewood, not to mention a slew of disgruntled suspects from previous cases
"No" Lindsay swallowed heading towards the door, "it's just a feeling"
"We don't work on feelings, we work on evidence" Mac replied sympathetically, "But if you makes feel any better, I'll pull some strings and put in a call to Billings for you"
"Thank you" Lindsay nodded.
Flack was standing outside of Danny's ICU cubicle looking at his friend through the glass when Stella and a reluctant Lindsay arrived.
"How's he doing?" Stella smiled gently touching Don's muscular bicep.
"No change, Doc still says touch and go" Flack returned looking grim faced. Ever the teams statue of Liberty Stella could only smile. "Don't let him fool you. Danny Messer can be pretty tough when he wants to be"
"Yeah well let's just hope this is one of those times" Flack replied before feeling the vibration of his cell. "That must be Hawkes. He and I are going down to the Bronx and see what the remaining Tanglewood boys are up too"
"Tanglewood. Good luck," Stella called after him before turning her attention to Lindsay. "You coming?"
Lindsay's dark eyes were fixated on the man laying lifelessly on the bed. The original tracheotomy tube had been replaced by a special cervical collar, which allowed for easier breathing with throat injuries.
"Lindsay" Stella called out in a sing-song voice before sobering, "Danny needs us"
Together the two women walked inside the cubicle where the charge nurse greeted Stella. "May I see Detective Messer's personal things please" Stella asked politely.
"I'll get them for you right away" the nurse answered as Stella sweetly ran the pad of her thumb over Danny's forehead, brushing his reseeding hairline. "Hey, Danny how ya doin?"
Lindsay set her kit down on the portable bed tray and pulled out her camera. Without thinking she quickly began to snap photos of the contusion underneath Danny's right eye following up with shots of the tracheotomy collar.
"Gathering trace evidence may be a little tough. Looks like the docs did a pretty good job of cleaning him up" Stella pulled on a set of gloves and retrieved a long cotton swab from her own bag. She then proceeded to run the swab under Danny's fingertips looking for any signs of blood and DNA. Afterwards she probed his right hand checking it carefully for traces of Gunshot residue.
"C'mon, Danny give me a sign" she pleaded before noticing that Lindsay had stopped snapping pictures. The loveable rookie was just standing there staring dismally down at Danny.
"Lindsay?"
"I can't-" she started setting the camera down before retreating from the room. "I can't do this"
Stella followed her outside watching as Lindsay ran a hand through her golden locks. "I can't do this Stella…I just can't"
"Why?" Stella demanded pulling off her gloves, not expecting Lindsay's explosive response.
"Because I love him," Lindsay blurted unintentionally. Unconsciously she raised her hand to her mouth. Had she just said that she loved Danny out loud?
Stella opened to her mouth to speak but then promptly closed it at the sound of her cell. "Bonasera" she answered catching it on the first ring. "Uh…huh…when? I'll be right there"
Stella snapped her cell shut and reattached it to her hip pocket. "That was NYPD. They just apprehended a vagrant who was going around with Danny's badge trying to impersonate a police office."
"You think he might be the shooter?" Lindsay replied curious.
"That's what I'm going to find out"
"I'm coming with you" Lindsay returned venomously only to have Stella shoot her down.
"On the contrary, you're staying here. At the very least, Danny needs protection in case the shooter decides to come back. Not to mention it probably wouldn't hurt if you told him how you feel" Stella moved closer touching Lindsay's shoulder. "Who knows it may even help him get better" she smiled watching the lifeless looking man in the bed.
"He needs you Lindsay"
Skeptical, Lindsay waited until Stella had gone before heading back to Danny's cubicle. For several moments she just stood in the doorway watching him from afar. Even deadly ill, he still looked as handsome as ever with his thick evening stubble rising over his cheeks and his chin. Comatose as he was he had way of making her smile.
Fear swept over her as she sank into the bedside chair. She hated seeing him like this. Tubes and wires were shooting out his body making him akin to a Christmas tree. "This feels so incredibly wrong" she whispered thinking back to the night that she'd gone undercover to save one of the Holly suspects.
She'd been the same height; same build so it only made sense that she would be the one to make the drop. Looking down at the barrel of the African's gun, she'd never been so scared, yet she'd never felt so safe in the moment that Danny had come rushing in shouting her name. The feel of his hands on her face had sent shivers down her spine, shivers like she'd never known.
New York Harbor. Stella let out a heavy sigh as she met Flack at the railing over looking New Harbor. A ferry sailing by was blowing it's horn blaring loudly. "Hey" Stella smiled brushing back her long curls in the wind.
"Hey" he mouthed back, "You find anything out on that vagrant, claiming to be Messer?"
Stella leaned up against the railing and turned her attention towards the water, "Guy claims he found in a dumpster while he was looking for food"
"You believe him?" Don asked leaning up beside her.
"Unfortunately, I've got no reason not too. How'd you make out?"
"Zip, Zero, Nada," Flack answered. "Hawkes is still at the lab pouring over Danny's old cases"
Stella frowned making the lines on her forehead stand out, "Were things this difficult when last year when you were trying to figure out why I killed Frankie?"
"Actually…no" Don let out a small chuckle, letting his hand touch the middle of her back "You were at least awake and willing to try to piece things together"
"Leave it Danny to be difficult" Stella mused keeping her gaze fixed on the water.
Nightfall seemed to come quickly as Lindsay found she could no longer elude sleep. Repositioning herself, Lindsay twisted in the chair until she found a somewhat comfortable position. Gently she rested her hand on the side of mattress, keeping it outstretched towards Danny's. Sleepy she closed her eyes in peaceful exhaustion. It wasn't until she felt the weight of footsteps upon the floor that she began to stir.
"Danny?" she muttered jerking her head up to find a man dressed in surgical scrubs looming over the injured detective, with a pillow in his hands. The man's purpose was evident. Underneath the pillow lay a gun with a silencer attached.
"Danny!" Lindsay lashed out forcing the assailants hand. He dropped the pillow-firing straight at Lindsay forcing her to dive for the floor. The bullet hit the Plexiglas on the opposite wall and bounced off. For several seconds Lindsay lay dazed and still before pushing to her feet and giving chase.
"New York PD!" she yelled flashing her badge as the suspect pushed past a couple nurses in pursuit. She continued onward until the assailant slipped through an open an emergency exit. The door closed quickly instantly returning to it's locked state.
"Damn" Lindsay swore making contact with the door before giving up the chase. She'd have no choice but to call it in and let the local police handle it. Running a hand through her hair, she held it back for a several seconds before letting it drop until a thought occurred to her: Danny had been left alone
Briskly she made her way back to his cubicle to find a team of doctors and nurses hovering over the fallen dectetive. Alarms seemed to be going off all around him. "What's going on?" she shouted, her voice cracking. Her answer came in the form of a small white towel stained with crimson falling to the floor.
"My God, Danny was bleeding"