A/N: Sorry this one's been a bit neglected and thank you for all your reviews. Enjoy!
o-xxx-o
He returned to find Lucy sitting on the seat that he'd occupied a few hours earlier, Sue appeared to be sleeping, her head resting on her friend's shoulder.
"Is there any news?" The rotor asked as he entered the room, her voice filled with trepidation.
"He's still in surgery. How's she doing?"
"Not good. She's blaming herself, convinced that all the naysayers were right and she has no business being out in the field. She's even considering transferring back to fingerprinting."
"That's crazy."
"That's what I told her. Do we have any leads?"
D grabbed the back of one of the vacant chairs and dragged it round so he was facing both women. "We found the place where they had lunch. Luckily, Jack paid by card not cash."
"Some luck," she sighed. "And..?"
"The couple who had the fight were semi-regulars. The owner gave us a name and when we checked with Metro, it turned out they knew them pretty well. They'd been called to several disturbances at their apartment. Tara ran him through the database and discovered he'd only been released from prison, for the second time, a little over a month ago… spousal abuse. We think he probably panicked when Jack identified himself as a Federal Agent."
"The three strikes rule."
"Uh-huh. He knew that if Jack reported the incident they'd throw away the key this time so it looks like he did the only thing he could think of to prevent it."
"But how did he know it hadn't already been called in?"
"I guess he just hoped. Who knows how someone like that's, mind works? I've sent Bobby and Myles to pick him up."
"Bobby?" Lucy queried. "Are you sure that was such a good idea?"
"Luce, to be honest, at this moment I really don't care. If he roughs him up a little, he roughs him up and if he shoots him? It'll save us from having to listen to the scumbag trying to squirm his way out of a mandatory life sentence without parole."
"And if he's innocent?"
Dimitrius stared at her for a moment, his mind trying to process a scenario he hadn't even considered. "He's still a wife-beater. Anyway, I'm sure Myles will be able to keep Manning in line."
"My God, what a mess… talk about wrong place, wrong time."
"There's no way that anyone could have predicted this."
"Maybe you should try telling her."
"I would if I thought she'd listen." He smiled ironically at Lucy's quirked eyebrow. "No pun intended. We should get her home."
"I already tried."
"Then it's my turn." Reaching over he squeezed the sleeping woman's shoulder and hazel eyes filled with panic, snapped open.
"Jack?"
"…Still in surgery."
Sue glanced up at the clock on the wall. "It's been hours, what's wrong?"
"Sue, I'm sure there's nothing to worry about, he's in very good hands."
"I was with him when they brought him in, remember? I know how bad it was."
D gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry. By the time he reached the hospital, he'd lost an awful lot of blood. If that off-duty paramedic hadn't been there when it happened…" He left the sentence unfinished.
"I saw." For the first time since they'd arrived she bent down to retrieve her jacket, the grey material stained with red.
"They gave him several transfusions to try and stabilise him but in the end they ran out of time and had to take him to the O.R. The wound was clean but the bullet punctured his lung and lodged very close to his heart, which meant they had to proceed very carefully and the problem with the arrhythmia complicated things."
Her eyes filled with tears but she quickly blinked them away so she wouldn't miss anything that was said. "And..?"
"They're just finishing up and then they'll be transferring him to the C.C.U."
"Then he's going to be okay?"
He took her hand. "He has a chance, a slim one… but a chance. The next forty-eight hours will be critical, if he survives those…" He stood up. "And now we need to get you home."
"No! I want to stay, I need to see him."
"You can't. Strictly no visitors and there'll be a guard on his door at all times."
"Please D, just for a few minutes."
"I'm sorry. Lucy is going to take you home, you can come back tomorrow."
"No." She folded her arms defiantly.
"Thomas, it's not up for negotiation." He used his most authoritative tone and sternest expression but immediately regretted it when he saw her face crumple. "Go home Sue, please."
She just sat staring at him, her bottom lip trembling as the tears started to flow once more and he melted like butter, crouching down in front of her.
"Alright," he sighed in defeat. "You go home now, have something to eat and get some rest for a few hours and I'll arrange with the staff to let you in first thing and stay for as long as you like but I don't think they'll allow Levi. Do we have a deal?"
At first she looked as though she was going to argue but in the end she just nodded. As she tried to stand, her knees buckled and she finished up back on the seat. Lucy touched D's arm and they both turned away from her for a second.
"Can you get her to my car and I'll go and see if they can give me something for her to take to make her sleep?"
"Good idea." He took hold of Sue's arm and helped her up. "Let's try that again, shall we?"
o-xxx-o
Sue had hated deceiving Lucy but there had been no way that she was going to take a pill and sleep for hours when Jack was alone and fighting for his life. She'd had a shower and forced herself to eat something, even managed a mug of hot chocolate and now she was lying down but every time she closed her eyes all she could see were the events of the day playing out like a movie on the inside of her lids. The look on his face as he'd fallen haunted her and she prayed it wouldn't be the last image of him she ever saw. When D had asked her to describe what had happened it had been a blur but now it was all crystal-clear in her mind…
The way he'd lain at her feet on the cold, unforgiving, concrete of the sidewalk… The paramedic fighting to save him… The blood that wouldn't stop flowing… There had been so much blood, too much… The ambulance arriving and the fight she'd had to go with him. Holding his hand whenever she could so he'd know he wasn't alone. The oxygen mask covering his face… Pulling over to the side of the road when the heart monitor had gone crazy and then flat-lined, so he could be resuscitated…
Arriving at the hospital and feeling a moment of hope as they'd wheeled him along the corridor on the trolley and his eyelids had fluttered. Trying to keep up and watching the lips of the medical team for any inkling of what was happening without walking into anything. Fear gripping her at their worried expressions. Reaching the double-doors and not being allowed to go through them… Having to relinquish her grip on his hand… Looking through the small window as they worked on him, their lips mouthing words she didn't want to see and yet she couldn't turn away.
"My God…" "We're losing him." "We have to stop this bleeding." "He's arrested!"
Someone had come along at that point and guided her to an empty waiting room. She'd wanted to ask if he was d… If he was still alive but they'd left her on her own, apart from Levi. She'd tried to get some sort of control of her emotions, knowing that the rest of the team would be there soon and want to know what had happened but all she could see was Jack's eyes as he'd fallen and she'd laughed… She'd laughed because she hadn't understood, hadn't been able to hear…
She'd promised D that she wouldn't go back to the hospital until the morning but she couldn't just lie there when… She had to know, had to be at his side and see for herself that he was alive and breathing even if it meant sitting and staring at the monitors all night.
As quickly and quietly as she could, she pulled on a pair of jeans, slipped a clean sweater over her head and made her way across the bedroom, motioning Levi to stay where he was but as she put on her coat, Lucy came stumbling sleepily out of her room.
"Sue?"
"I'm sorry Luce, I have to go back. I can't leave him alone in that place."
"I know, give me five minutes."
"You don't need to come."
"Look, you're not going out there alone at this time of night. I'll drive you to the hospital and then bring Levi back with me, okay?"
She nodded and gave her friend a small smile. "Okay… And Luce…"
"Mmm..?"
"Thank you."
o-xxx-o
The woman at the desk had given her directions and she made her way apprehensively to the Critical Care Unit but when she approached the door of his room, the Metro Officer on guard duty stopped her.
"Sorry ma'am, you can't go in there."
"I'm Sue Thomas, my Unit Supervisor, Dimitrius Gans arranged for me to visit."
"I'm aware of that Ms Thomas but Special Agent Hudson already has a visitor."
"Someone's here?"
"Yes ma'am."
Sue looked through the observation window to see Bobby standing at Jack's bedside and without thinking about what she was doing, she watched his lips as he spoke. He was telling him to fight and that everyone was praying for him… That he didn't have many real friends and he couldn't afford to lose his best one. Who else would keep him on the straight and narrow? When he took hold of the unconscious man's hand, she walked away realising that this was a private moment and she was intruding. A few minutes later he came out and was obviously surprised to see her.
"Sue…"
"How is he?"
"No change. He's barely hanging in." The Aussie slumped down onto the seat beside her. "I thought you'd be tucked up in bed."
"I couldn't sleep. I just keep seeing him lying there in front of me. There was nothing I could do to…"
"Sue, it wasn't your fault. No one could have known this would happen, not even Wonder Woman and Super Dog."
"Did you go to the suspect's apartment?"
"Yeah, we found his wife."
Something in is face told her that the news wasn't good. "And..?"
"Shot through the head."
Sue offered up a silent prayer for the woman. "And him..?"
"No sign. We think he must have gone back to pick up his gun after the encounter with Jack, it looks like she tried to stop him, but… I'll get the drongo, Sue. There'll be nowhere on this earth he can hide... No matter how long it takes, I'll find him."
"I know. Maybe…" Before she could finish Bobby jumped up.
"Jack!"
"What is it? What's wrong?" She caught sight of a light flashing above the door. "Bobby?"
The tall man pulled her to one side to prevent her being trampled by the emergency medical team. "All the alarms have gone off."
"Oh God no, please no…" She sank back down onto her seat and watched in panic as Jack was wheeled out and rushed down the corridor.
Bobby grabbed hold of one of the attendants, spinning him around and practically knocking him off his feet. "What's happening?"
"His blood pressure's plummeting, possible post-op haemorrhage… We need to get him back into surgery."
"He's gonna be okay though, right?"
The young man shrugged himself free of Bobby's grip. "I'm sorry, it's not looking good."
o-xxx-o