Ladies and gentleman, chapter three is up! Thanks for the reviews, and many thanks especially to funnygirlOoObroadwaybaby. I've already corrected that stupid mistake :)
When Gabrielle entered Lisbon's room on Monday morning, she found Jane still curled on the very same uncomfortable plastic chair. He wasn't asleep; he wouldn't let himself sleep. He had to be awake, just in case Lisbon needed him.
Gabrielle quietly closed the door behind her and came closer. As her heels clicked on the floor, Jane started and turned to her.
"Hey." She smiled and handed him a cup of coffee. "You look terrible. Haven't you slept at all?"
"Not really. I wasn't tired." He shrugged his shoulders, pretty sure Gabrielle wouldn't believe. Since Friday night, he almost hadn't moved from that chair. He had been too worried to leave Lisbon alone even for a few minutes. He had only left during examinations, and even then Gabrielle had to literally kick him out.
"Yeah, right. How is she?"
"Asleep almost all the time. Is it normal? Is she supposed to sleep that much?"
The woman could hear the concern is his voice. Oh God, he really cared. For the first time in years Patrick Jane cared for someone. That was unusual.
Gabrielle carefully studied Lisbon's face. "It's better for her that way. No pain. No thinking. No fear. And the more she rests, the sooner she will recover." She gave Jane a quick glance. "It's Monday. Aren't you supposed to go to work?"
"I'm pretty sure my boss won't be mad if I don't."
He gently brushed a black curl off Lisbon's face and looked at Gabrielle. He was so miserable that she just came closer and hugged him. "She'll be fine," she said for the hundredth time in the past three days. "She's really lucky to have you around. But someone has to tell her boss what happened."
Jane sighed. "Right. I'll just wait until she wakes up and then I'll go."
"Patrick, really, nothing will happen if you go now. You will wait till she wakes up, then you will want to talk to her, and then you will wait till I examine her... I can bet it will be midnight by then." She smiled. "Just go. I'll be around all the time, and I promise to check on her every fifteen minutes."
"Okay," Jane finally gave up. He took his jacket and stood up.
"Oh, and you know what?" She gave him a critical look. "Change your clothes before going to the office, will you?"
Jane grinned, straightened his shirt ostentatiously and left.
This time agent Lisbon was lucky. That damn consultant had appeared out of nowhere, just in time to save her worthless life.
The man had been watching them the whole weekend. Lisbon's injuries were serious enough to keep Jane by her side all the time. Serious, but not life-threatening. Which meant his plan failed.
At first he'd been furious. He'd prepared everything carefully, checked every detail, from the number of cameras in the building to agent Lisbon's favourite drink, and yet his flawless plan had been spoiled by a stupid consultant! But he would keep trying again and again, and finally he would succeed, no matter how many friends of Teresa Lisbon would be around to interrupt. He just had to wait for an appropriate moment.
Suddenly he noticed that Jane had left the room. That was strange, as he hadn't gone out since Friday. Finally, some good news. He looked out of the nearest window and spotted Jane, getting into a cab. Just perfect.
Time to act.
When Jane finally arrived at the CBI headquarters at half past ten, the rest of the team was already there.
"Jane!" Van Pelt literally jumped when she saw him. "Where on Earth have you been? Something must've happened to Lisbon, she's not here yet, she's not answering her phone. Her office is a mess, and there's blood on the floor, stains of blood..."
Shit. He had forgotten about it. He could imagine how scared they'd been when they saw that. Jane sighed. "Lisbon is in the hospital. She got shot on Friday."
"Oh my God..." Van Pelt covered her mouth. "How? Why? Who could possibly do that?"
"I don't know." Jane sat on his couch and told them the whole story. He could see they were terrified.
"Why didn't you call any of us?" asked Cho when he finished. "Maybe we could do something."
"I don't know. I didn't... think of it. It was all so crazy..."
Van Pelt sat next to him. She had tears in her eyes, though she was trying to hide it. "How is she now?"
"Doctors say she'll be fine... But she didn't try to get out of bed or argue with me, so I think it'll take some time."
"Can we go visit her?"
Jane hesitated for a while. "I'm not sure if it's a good idea. I'll call her doctor and ask." He took out his mobile phone and dialled Gabrielle's number.
"Sorry guys," he said when he finished the call. "Her doctor said, only one guest today."
"Cho should go," decided Van Pelt immediately. Cho was close to Lisbon, closer than her or Rigsby. She was worried about her boss, of course, but Cho really needed to check Lisbon was fine himself. She could see how nervous he was.
He sent her a grateful look. "Thanks," he mumbled.
She smiled sadly and stood up. "Just call us later, will you?"
"Sure."
When Jane and Cho left, she turned to Rigsby. "Who could want to hurt Lisbon?" She shook her head. "Terrible."
Rigsby didn't answer, but he was shocked too. Lisbon was a tough cop, but she had never done anything wrong or dishonest. Sometimes it just wasn't enough, though. "You know, she's sent many people to jail. And no matter if they deserved it or not, some of them would seek for revenge."
Van Pelt wiped the tears away. "I'll tell Minelli what happened," she said with a sigh. "We have to find that bastard before he hurts her again."
"Okay, see you in an hour." Gabrielle put her mobile phone into her pocket and entered Lisbon's room.
This time Lisbon was awake. She smiled at the doctor and tried to sit up.
"Don't move." Gabrielle waved her hand. "How do you feel today?"
"Fine. Comparing to yesterday, just perfect." The previous night she'd had a high fever, and her stomach hurt so much she had to get morphine again. She'd lain in the dark room, half-conscious from pain, praying for the end of that nightmare. Thankfully the meds helped and she felt way better now.
"Good to hear that. Maybe Patrick will finally sleep tonight," said Gabrielle without much thinking.
Lisbon gave her a surprised look. "What do you mean?"
"Um, nothing, it's just... He's really worried about you." Patrick would kill her. "I haven't seen him so upset since... You know."
Lisbon nodded slightly. "How long have you known Jane... Patrick?"
Gabrielle laughed. "Oh my God, like, forever. He lived in the neighbourhood since I remember. We spent the whole childhood together." She sighed. "He used to be a different man then."
"Did you know his wife?"
"Angela? Yes, we met a few times. Jane loved her like crazy, and when their daughter was born, he was the happiest man in the world. Every time we met he talked about her - her first smile, first tooth, first words." She smiled sadly. "Then I moved to New Jersey for a few years. One morning, he called me out of the blue. He could barely speak, but begged me to come. It was..." She couldn't find the right words to describe that unspeakable crime. "He was insane with grief. I've never seen him like that. You can't imagine... And I was frightened, frightened that he could do something incredibly stupid." She didn't finish, but they both knew what she meant. That he could try to kill himself.
Both women had tears in their eyes. Gabrielle quickly composed herself. "You should be resting, and I'm telling you such depressing things. But you really helped him, you know? He is... much calmer now. Or at least was, until Friday. He was so scared when he saw you, lying here, attached to all these devices. All the memories hit him again. He really cares about you, and if he'd lost you too, it would be the end of his world. He wouldn't be able to cope with it."
Gabrielle's pager beeped. She glanced at it and stood up. "I'm sorry, but I have to run. By the way, Patrick will be here in... half an hour. With a guest."
"A guest? Who?"
"I don't know, probably someone from your team."
"Oh my God. Do you have a hairbrush? And a face powder?"
Gabrielle laughed. "Now I'm sure you feel better. I'll see what I can get," she said and left.
Before Jane and Cho came, Gabrielle brought Lisbon some cosmetics and helped her smarten up a bit. The effect was far from perfect, but at least she looked like a human.
"Knock, knock." Jane entered the room, smiling widely. "I have a surprise." He pointed at Cho.
Cho was carrying the biggest teddy bear Lisbon had ever seen. He grinned when he saw her surprised face. "A gift from the team," he said, placing the teddy on a chair next to her bed.
"Hey!" Jane protested. "It was my chair!"
"Sorry, Jane, I have a new guard,"said Lisbon, smiling at his offended face expression.
Cho took another chair and pulled it closer to Jane. "You can always have this."
"That one was special," he said, but finally gave up.
Cho just stood next to him, carefully studying Lisbon's face. "Good to see you, boss," he said eventually.
She could tell from his voice that he was nervous.
"How do you feel?"
"Good, really. Jane can tell you I'm all better. I can actually go home today. "She sat up and reached for the teddy, but almost immediately doubled over with pain. "Okay," she said through clenched teeth. "Maybe tomorrow."
Cho tried to smile. "Van Pelt and Rigsby wanted to come too, but your doctor didn't let them."
"Oh yes, Gabrielle can be really stubborn if she wants to." Jane glanced at Lisbon. "Probably all bosses in the world are like that. You know... bossy."
Lisbon rolled her eyes, but before she could answer, a nurse entered the room, carrying an IV drip.
"Oh, please." Lisbon groaned. "Not again."
The nurse smiled and raised her arms. "I only do what I was told to. Doctor Marks makes all decisions. You can talk to her if you want,"she said, connecting the IV.
"Oh, I'm sure she knows what she's doing. It's just annoying. I feel like a dog on a leash." She waved her arm impatiently.
The nurse laughed and left.
"Maybe it's not the best moment, boss, but..." Cho hesitated for a while. "Van Pelt talked to Minelli. He let us take this case... Your case. We will start the investigation as soon as possible."
Lisbon smiled at him. "Thank you. But I'm afraid I won't tell you much. I didn't see anyone there, didn't hear anything. I have no idea where to start..." She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. "Oh my God."
"Lisbon?" Jane stood up, alarmed. "Are you okay?"
She tried to focus on his face. "It's fine, I just... feel faint," she said slowly. Her heart was racing, as if she'd just run a marathon. "Too many drugs, I guess."
"Maybe I should go tell-" Jane didn't finish, as the alarming beeping of the heart rate monitor filled the room. "Lisbon? Hey, Lisbon!"
She didn't answer.
Cho quickly ran towards the door. "Somebody help us!"
Gabrielle appeared immediately, followed by two nurses. She glanced at the monitor. "Teresa? Teresa, can you hear me?" She grabbed Lisbon's arm and shook her gently, with no result. "Shit."
One of the nurses stepped towards Jane and Cho. "I'm sorry, but you have to wait outside."
Jane wanted to protest, but the nurse interrupted him. "It's not the best moment for arguments, really."
"Gabby, what's going on? What's wrong with her?"
"Just go." Gabrielle waved her hand, leaning over Lisbon. "I need a crash cart in here, now!" she shouted, her voice trembling slightly.
Oh yes, I know - what a cliched ending :) But this way you'll have to read the next chapter to check if I killed Lisbon! The next one will be better, I promise. Less hospitals, more action... I hope.
As always, thanks for reading, and please review!