Ok, so fever is gone and so is my sickness, so here we go again!! Thanks to my beta RyanLaurel and to everyone who reviewed.

Special thanks to Catty for offering her help to make me better. Also to Tenka-Chan and Ditto123 who made my next thirty years with their reviews. This next chapter is dedicated to you three.

So without further ado (warnings and disclaimers the same) on with chapter 4!!

"Man can live about forty days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air, but only for one second without hope."

-Unknown

Mac paced in the waiting room in an attempt to calm himself down, but it seemed impossible. Each time his heartbeat became regular again, he would see one of his team, remember Danny's chances, and it would pick up again. If he tried to sit, he would quickly learn that he was too anxious and begin to pacing once more.

On each pass, he would look at each one of his colleagues. He would wonder what was going through their minds and what he could do to make them feel better. Each of them was reacting in their own way, and though everyone cared for Danny, some were taking it harder than others, or were better at hiding it.

Lindsay was, understandably, in the worst state. Her eye make-up was completely dissolved from the tears that were constantly falling down her cheeks. The nurses had been kind enough to bring her coffee, though she had not touched it and it had gotten cold hours ago. She was white as a ghost, but she still held a sort of beauty. Mac knew what Danny saw in her, she was a caring girl who Mac could say he saw as a daughter.

Stella sat next to her, holding Lindsay as she changed from sobbing to solemn and back again, whispering words of encouragement and understanding. Stella looked rather tired herself, but Mac knew she would never let that get in the way of helping her friends. She had been having the same conversation with Lindsay for the past three hours.

"What if he doesn't make it, Stella?"

"Don't worry, Danny is stubborn. He won't give up without a fight."

"He was so cold when I held his hand last."

"Lindsay, he will make it through, if not for himself, then for you."

"Stella, do you really think Danny wanted Rikki to shoot him?"

Stella sighed. "Grief does strange things to people, Lindsay, but no, I don't think Danny wanted her to shoot him. I know he wouldn't do that to us. I think Danny might have thought saving Rikki from making the mistake of killing Ollie might make up for not being able to save Ruben. He still thinks that Ruben's death was his fault."

"But it wasn't!"

"I know, I know," she said stroking Lindsay's hair as she started to cry again. "Unfortunately, we still need to convince Danny of that fact."

"I can't lose him, Stella," she sobbed. "I don't know what I'll do without him."

"Don't worry, he'll make it."

Hawks and Sid were speaking with the nurse at the front desk, but it looked as though their questions were not being answered. Both of their brows were furled and Hawks body seemed very tense. The nurse also looked upset. Mac chuckled to himself. He could see that exchange in his mind. They were most likely trying to get an update on Danny's condition. The nurse probably wouldn't answer due to lack of knowledge or because of confidentiality issues, and knowing Hawks and Sid, neither one of those responses were acceptable enough for them.

Mac's gaze moved to the last of the group, and though his reaction wasn't as extreme as Lindsay, Flack was who Mac was most concerned about. He hadn't said anything since the car ride over, only stared at his hands.

"Don't worry, Don," said Mac as he drove at breakneck speed to the hospital, "he'll make it. Danny is stubborn and God knows he won't give up without a fight."

"He just looked so weak, Mac," said Flack sighing. He had given Angell his cruiser to transport Rikki to the station where Angell was going to interrogate her. "The things he said, it sounded like he was giving up. I wish I coulda done something more to help him."

"What could you have done, Don?" asked Mac in an attempt to stop another team member from going down the road of guilt.

"I don't know, probably nothin', but he was dyin' right in my hands," he said looking at his hands that were lying in his lap.

"Nobody could have stopped what happened, Flack," said Mac, keeping his eyes on the road as he swerved around cars. "Promise me you won't blame yourself for this. There was nothing you could have done." Mac waited for an answer, but didn't even receive a grunt. "Flack?" said Mac finally turning to look at the young cop only to see him sitting in shock at the sight of his hands and shirt covered in blood.

Flack was now sitting staring at his hands with a mixed look of shock, worry, and disgust. He knew he shouldn't be surprised that there had been blood on them, but he wasn't quite ready for how much there was. They had looked like they had been dipped in a can of deep red paint. He had wanted to answer Mac, but he just couldn't get his mouth to work. He had had blood on his hands and clothes before, but this time it was Danny's blood, it was a completely different story.

They had gotten him to change his shirt and wash his hands after they were photographed, but it still felt like it was on him. Now, his hands were red, not from the blood, but from the vigorous scrubbing Flack had done to get it off, even after they were visibly clean.

There was a lot of blood at the crime scene, too, he thought. They'll need to give him a transfusion soon if they haven't already. He looked over at the OR doors. No one had gone in or come out of those doors since they had arrived three hours ago. Mac had called Hawks, Stella, and Sid at the lab while they were driving over and were there shortly after Mac and himself. They found Lindsay who fell into a heap of tears when Stella asked her about what happened, and then they waited. Danno, ya gotta make it though this.

"Nurse said she hasn't heard anything about Danny's condition and promised a thousand times over that she would tell us if or when she did," said Hawks as he approached after his exasperating conversation.

"In other words, she doesn't want us asking her anymore," said Sid. "She probably won't know anything until after the surgery either."

"But it's already been three hours!" said Stella. "How much longer do you think it will take?"

"It matters how many problems they run into," said Sid. "There could be dangerous bleeds, his blood pressure could drop, or he could stop breathing. There are a lot of things that could happen. They need to make sure he is stable throughout the surgery with the injuries he sustained." Lindsay let out a quiet sob.

"Lindsay," said Hawks placing a hand on her shoulder, "that doesn't mean he won't make it through the surgery. He still has a chance."

Lindsay gave him a weak smile and kept giving her words of encouragement. Mac, on the other hand, wanted to speak with Sid without the sugar coating. He pulled Sid a short distance away from the others so they couldn't hear the conversation. "Sid, tell me the truth. What are Danny's chances really?"

Sid looked at Mac with eyes of despair. "Honestly, Mac, I've seen people with less on my table. If a miracle happens and he makes it through the surgery, there is infection that could set in and his body needs to recover which takes energy he might not have. He could slip into a coma and be like his brother. Speaking of his family, have you let them know?"

"Yeah," said Mac shaking his head, "I called his parents and spoke to his father."

"And?"

"I believe his response was 'So?'"

"You mean he didn't care?"

"No, he said the only son he had was in a coma. Said he had a younger son, but he died over ten years ago."

"Was that when Danny went to the Academy?"

"Yep," said Mac.

Sid shook his head with disappointment. "You know, most people would be proud of their child for doing what Danny did, getting out of that sort of life and making a good one for themselves. Who could be dissatisfied with a kid like Danny?"

"Someone who has ties to the mob," said Mac. "They can't prove it, but it's believed that Danny's family either helps or are gangsters. Having a cop for a son is bad for them. He could leak secrets if he knows them, which is why I try to look out for him as much as possible."

"Does he know anything?" Mac nodded. "Has he told anyone?"

"I know that if anything that Danny knows gets out his life would be in danger. The sheriff and captain, as well as the DA, have asked or ordered to talk to Danny about it, but I have always run interference for him. Danny shouldn't be forced to make a decision between the career he loves and the family he cares about. Danny told me what he thought was pertinent after the whole Tanglewood situation and has promised me to tell me things later if they are important. I trust his word and so, I don't push him. He is very sensitive about his past and so, I try to stay away from it if at all possible. Who he is now is not who he used to be, that is all I know. He's a better man because of what he has gone through."

"Excuse me," said a voice, causing the group to turn to the OR door, "I'm looking for the family of Detective Daniel Messer." It was a surgeon in green scrubs, removing his mask.

Mac walked over and grabbed Lindsay's hand, gently helping her to her feet. He guided her to the surgeon. "I'm Detective Mac Taylor, Danny's supervisor, and this is Detective Lindsay Monroe, Danny's girlfriend." Lindsay couldn't help but smile slightly as Mac said that, it had a certain ring to it. That and it was nice not having to hide that fact anymore. "We are his family. How is he?"

"He successfully made it through the surgery, but there has been a large amount of blood loss, internal damage, and a few broken ribs due to CPR. We are currently giving him blood and antibiotics to prevent any sort of infection."

"Is… is he going to …?" Lindsay asked quietly, not able to finish the ominous question.

She couldn't finish her question, but the doctor knew what she wanted to say. "He is in extremely critical condition," he said, but he was unable to look at Lindsay. "His heart has taken a lot of stress so cardiac arrest is a very real threat right now. I will be honest with you; his chance of survival is very low. If he survives the night it will be a good sign, but I won't say he's out of the woods until after a week."

Lindsay started to cry again. She hated crying so much, it just wasn't her, but these past few weeks had been a rollercoaster ride that never seemed to go up. She had lost Danny, and then found him again only to possibly lose him again, only this time permanently. This just wasn't fair!

"Can we see him?" asked Mac.

"Sure, but right now only two at a time," said the doctor. "If something happens we can't have a whole group of you in there."

Mac nodded his head and placed a hand on Lindsay's shoulder. "Lindsay, why don't you and Flack go in first?"

"Ok," she replied softly. She began to walk with the doctor to Danny's room and Flack began to follow.

"Don," said Mac, making Flack stop and turn back to face him, "take care of her, ok?" Flack nodded and continued walking toward Lindsay. He just hoped they were both ready for what was coming.

Once again, sorry for the late update. My fever has broken and I stopped feeling nausiated so I will hopefully be able to update again sooner!

Please review! First one can have Hawks!! (Sorry, Danny is mine and my beta has Flack locked up somewhere :))