Title: Chuck vs. Life

Author: marybr

Characters: mainly Chuck/Sarah (but the regulars are there – Casey, Ellie, Morgan, Awesome, etc.)

Chapters: 9/?

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters portrayed in this fic. I'm gaining nothing with this, except the sheer joy of being Chuck/Sarah's puppet master. I do own Julia, 'though :D

Summary: First of all I suck at summaries, so regard this fact as you read this. The fic fits right after the last episode aired (1x11), and it basically picks up after those events. It's nothing more than Chuck and co. moving on with their lives, and especially centering on how Chuck and Sarah will deal with their mutual feelings. I know, this summary blows… Just read the first chapter, and you'll get a sense of what is actually about.

A/N: HI! It's been too long, guys (and girls)! Let's not cry over spilled milk, the new chapter is here. Thanks for all the reviews, and wishes of luck. Now the exam is done; all I have to do is wait and see if I made the cut.

nattylovesjordy, I'm awfully sorry I made you cry; but I hope it was a good cry. Well, I guess we'll have to wait and see if the lie will come to bite Chuck in the ass. I haven't decided it yet. Maybe it will, maybe it won't.

GaldalfTheFunky, welcome! Nice of you to leave a review. Anyhow, I really meant to write "She had no CHANCE", like she had no chance to escape the shot. She wouldn't be able to shoot at Fuller before he would shoot at her. About the preposition you're right; I shouldn't have started a sentence with one. If it wasn't such a pain to correct I would lol Thanks for the kind words; I try my best to keep the story in-character. I've said this before, but I hate stories in which the characters say stuff that they would never say on the real show. And you pointed out one of the hardest things I struggle with while writing fics: not give it all away in two chapters. All I want to do is put these crazy kids together, but I have to contain myself. It's really hard :D

Saucy-Duck, all I can say right now is that your questions will be answered.

gaaddict67, glad you enjoyed the British accent! I had fun writing that passage, and – on a personal note – I'm a sucker for a British accent; so, I decided to squeeze that in :)

AlwaysHoldinOn, welcome back! Glad you're enjoying the fic!

kev525, I hope this chapter continues to not disappoint you. And if Chuck heard Sarah or not we'll find out… eventually :D

Moe32, thanks for dropping a review. It's always appreciated. I'm glad that you're enjoying the characterizations; I love to write Sarah, maybe that's why she stands out.

lanmwolfthanks for the review. And for the nice words; you're far too kind! Yeah, I wanted to write Julia as a nice girl who you want to hate, because she's getting in the way of your chosen couple, but find it hard to do so 'cause she's so damn cool. I have issues when people write any sort of romantic triangle in which at one side you have this Witch and at the other this Miss. Perfect. There's no real struggle or real sense of torn. I believe it's not always black and white, you know, it's all about the gray areas; and I wanted to approach that. Ok, now I'm getting all serious… :)

Wow, it seems that a lot of new people are reading the fic. That's nice! It amazes me how many hits this little piece of writing is getting. Without further ado here's the new chapter! Full of angst just for you :D

Chapter IX

It didn't take long for them to arrive at the hospital. One thing was for sure, Casey wouldn't be receiving any prizes for safe driving that night. Sarah was feeling sick. Maybe it was because of that coppery smell of blood that ran through the air in the SUV, but she was pretty sure that it was related to the sight in front of her. The sight of an injured Chuck. She studied his face; his once warm face was now very pale. She couldn't believe this was happening. It felt so surreal… everything happened so fast. One minute she was talking to him, the other he was lying in the ground bleeding.

"Here he is," Casey said opening one of the car's back doors.

Casey had rushed through St. Vincent's Hospital's front doors a few minutes ago. He asked for help 'cause his friend was in his car, and he had been shot. A couple of nurses immediately took a gurney and followed him outside.

"Sarah. Sarah!" he called out.

The blonde woman was taken out of her daze, but she still had this utterly lost look on her face when she turned around to look at her partner.

"They need to take him now," he added, motioning to the two nurses standing by with the gurney.

Sarah gently lifted his head from her lap with one hand, clutched his suit's jacket with the other, and got out of the car. On the way to the hospital she took off his silver tie, undid the button of his shirt collar, took off his suit's jacket, bundled it up, and placed between his head and her lap, you know, she was trying her best to make him feel more comfortable.

The male nurse along with the female nurse removed an unconscious Chuck from the back seat to the gurney.

Casey watched the whole scene play along. He looked at Sarah, who was watching carefully the transfer as well. He noticed she hadn't said anything since they got in the car. And her eyes were so wide. He had to stop analyzing his partner's demeanor because they started rolling the man to the hospital as fast as possible.

"Strong pulse," the female nurse said, touching his neck.

Sarah -- still clutching Chuck's jacket like she was a child and the thing was her safety blankie -- was doing her best to keep up with the fast pace of the nurses. After all she was in high heels, but she wouldn't leave his side by even a second. Casey followed them too. A few steps behind 'though.

They entered the hospital through this big glassy double door. A doctor came by.

"Abdomen GSW," the male nurse reported.

"No exit wound," he added after tearing the shirt, and rolling Chuck a bit to the side.

The doctor opened his eyelids and flashed some light with this tiny flashlight. Sarah was paying close attention to everything that was being said and done. In fact she was so close that she was even making it hard for them to move around and exam Chuck. Casey, again, could be seen in the background.

"He has a strong pulse," the female nurse informed the doctor.

"His pupils are reactive," he stated.

He took a good look at the gunshot wound.

"He lost a lot of blood. We need to take him to surgery stat," he added.

"You're with him?" he asked Sarah.

"Yes," she managed to say with shaky voice.

"Did he lose conscious a long time ago?" he added.

"About fifteen minutes," she replied.

"What is his name?" the doctor continued inquiring.

"Chuck, uh, Charles. Charles Bartowski," she said touching her face.

"And you're his…" he fished.

"I'm his… friend," she finished sadly.

"Sarah Walker," she added lamely.

"Ok, Miss. Walker. We have to go now," he said rolling the gurney, helped by the nurses.

"Wait," she said following them.

"Is he going to be alright?" she asked, glancing down at Chuck.

"We'll do our best," he said, going through a white double door with a sign that read 'hospital authorized personnel only'.

"But…" she tried, standing outside the door.

They were gone. All she could do was to stand on the tip of her toes, and watch them take Chuck through this little glass square window on the door.

She stayed like that for a couple of minutes. Clutched to his bundled up black suit's jacket, staring through the little window. No more sight of Chuck on a gurney 'though. She managed to turn around and get back to the waiting area. Casey came to meet her. She was still wearing the same absent look, he realized.

"Is he going to be ok?" the NSA agent asked.

He would be damned to admit it, but along these months Casey came to grow a bit fond of the geek. Of course the man had no guts! He was a complete and total wimp. And it goes without saying that his naiveté really annoyed the agent. Plus, Casey wasn't even going to start to preach how childish Chuck is. However, Casey was yet to see another man with such loyalty and integrity. Chuck's strong moral values made Casey start to respect the man behind the nerd. And respect wasn't something Casey felt towards many people.

Sarah didn't reply. She was looking at him, but she was really looking through him.

"Hey. Hey!" the man called out to her once again.

"They… uh, they didn't say," she managed to let out.

"I need to get back to Fuller's house. Housekeeping," he stated.

She didn't say anything again.

"Are you going to be able to handle this, agent Walker?" he asked forcefully but in a low tone, looking around.

She nodded, but he didn't buy it. He knew that at this state she was in she wouldn't be able to create a plausible scenario for Chuck getting shot when the time came to answer such questions.

"Ok, hear me out. You and our boy Chuck were together at a party of some friend of yours. I don't know, you had planned this date way before the two of you broke up. You were upset that you had to go alone, and face all those questions about the break. Being the great guy that Chuck is, he wouldn't let you suffer through that. So, he said he'd go and pretend that you were still together for the night," he whispered the story to her.

"Are you with me?" he asked to confirm she was listening to him.

She looked straight into his eyes. This time he could tell she was there.

"Anyhow, you two were leaving the party when some punk tried to steal your car. Well, something went extremely wrong with the robbery attempt, and Chuck wound up with a bullet in his chest," he added.

"Is that clear?" he asked with a serious tone.

She nodded.

"So, I'm gonna ask you this again one last time. Can you handle this situation, agent Walker?" he added, looking at her in the eyes.

"Yes. I can," she replied meekly.

"Good. I have to go now," he said, turning around and leaving.

He took two steps, and turned around.

"Keep me posted on, you know, how he's doing," he added, kind of embarrassed to show he cared about Chuck.

She nodded once again, and with that he left through the front door.

Sarah took a seat on a sofa at the waiting area. She held the bundle made with Chuck's jacket very close to her heart. She didn't even notice that she was still clutched to the thing until now. She looked down at it, and couldn't help to bring it up to her face to smell it. She inhaled deeply, and there it was. His scent. She felt like crying, like collapsing right there; but she didn't. She held it all in. She couldn't crack, not now. So, she just stayed seating there holding his piece of clothing.

Twenty minutes passed, and still no word on how Chuck was doing. Sarah, who started to get restless ten minutes earlier, was now on the verge of losing it. She stood up and went to the admissions desk. There were several nurses there, and some doctors circulating also.

"I'm sorry," she said to a nurse at the computer.

"I need to know if there is any update on a patient who was brought here a while ago. His name is Chuck, I mean, Charles. Charles Bartowski," she added politely enough considering the circumstances.

"And you are…" the woman said without taking her eyes of the screen.

"I'm a friend of his," the blonde replied, starting to lose her cool.

"I'm sorry. We can't divulge info on a patient to non family members," the nurse stated, looking at Sarah now.

"No! You have to tell…" she raised her voice, but suddenly stopped on her tracks.

"Oh, my God! Ellie. I have to call Ellie! I completely forgot," she said more to herself than to the woman, covering her face with a hand.

She wasn't with her purse. She must have left it on her car. And her phone was inside the purse. She would have to ask the nurse to make a phone call. So, she placed Chuck's jacket abruptly on the desk. When she did it she heard a banging sound. There was something in his jacket's inside pocket.

"I have to make a quick call. Can I do it from here?" she asked hopeful, while grabbing whatever it was in his pocket.

To her luck it was his iPhone. She felt like smiling, but it didn't grace her features.

"Never mind," she said, waving the thing for the nurse to see.

She turned around for privacy, but before making the call she turned right back at the nurse.

"I'm not done with you yet," she warned.

She turned around again, this time for real. She was about to touch the screen to make the call, but she stopped. What would she say? How can you make a call like this? But time wasn't one of her luxuries right now. She just had to do this. So, she called Ellie.

It rang once, twice, three times. On the fourth ring Ellie picked up. She and Awesome had just arrived from their date.

"Hi, Chuck! Wh…" she greeted, but was cut by Sarah.

"Ellie, actually it's me. Sarah," she said in a soft voice.

"Oh, Sarah," the brunette replied, checking her cell's visor to make sure she didn't misread who was calling.

"Hi! How are you? And what are you doing on Chuck's cell?" she added asking, a bit intrigued.

"Ellie, I don't know how to say this. So, I'm just going to say it, ok?" the blonde said.

"Something bad happened… to Chuck," she added softly.

"What do you mean?" the brunette asked with an odd feeling on her gut.

"He got hurt. We're at St. Vincent's Hospital, you should come here," she tried to say as nicely as possible.

"Oh, God! How hurt? What happened? Is he ok?" she asked frantically, starting to feel this chill running through her body.

"I don't know how he is. They won't tell me anything. You should come here now," Sarah kinda pleaded.

"Ok, Devon and I are going right now. I'll see you soon," she concluded.

Ellie felt her legs starting to get weak. She was a doctor, used to deal with this type of situation, but things were different when her little brother was concerned. Awesome noticed that her face turned pale after the call.

"What's wrong, babe?" he asked, going towards her.

"Chuck… uh, Chuck is at the hospital. He got hurt," she replied, trying to get her mind wrapped around the news.

"Hurt how?" he asked, placing his hand on her back for support.

"I don't know. I don't know anything! Sarah called, and she said… I don't know. We have to go there now!" she said nervously and rather incoherently.

"Ok, I'll take you there," he replied softly.

They left home in a hurry without looking back.

Sarah felt a little relieved after making the call to Ellie. It was one of the most difficult calls that she had ever had to make. She was glad she was over with it. She turned around to talk to the nurse again.

"Can't you just tell me if he's ok?" she pleaded in her softest tone.

"I'm sorry, hospital policy. I can't tell anything to people outside the family. If you were at least his girlfriend, I could make an exception. However, being just friends… I just can't," the woman replied politely.

Sarah couldn't believe their relationship status had to come to bite her in the ass even in this situation.

"We were boyfriend and girlfriend in the not so distant past. Doesn't that count for anything?" she tried a desperate move.

The woman didn't need to know they were pretend boyfriend and girlfriend. However the desperate plea didn't help Sarah. The nurse sympathetically shook her head 'no'.

"Fine! Thank you very much!" the blonde said with sarcasm.

Sarah recollected Chuck's suit jacket from the desk, put his phone back in the pocket, and turned around to go back to the waiting area. She sat down on the same sofa as before, and sighed. She looked down, and noticed for the first time that she had dried up blood all over her hands. Chuck's blood. There were even a few little spots on her dress.

Ellie was coming; she couldn't let Chuck's sister see this. It was going to be a traumatic experience as it was; she didn't need to add anything to that. Can you imagine, Ellie arriving to the sight of a bloody Sarah? No; that scenario could never happen.

Sarah looked around to see if she spotted the ladies room, but she didn't see anything. A male nurse was passing by, so, she took the chance to ask.

"Excuse me, where is the ladies room?" she asked looking up at the man.

"Taking the right here, it's the third door to the left," he answered, barely stopping.

"Thank you," she said, getting up.

Sarah made her way to the ladies room. It was very spacious. She was grateful that there was no one there; she was alone. She placed Chuck's jacket near the sink very carefully, she didn't know why she was babysitting the piece of clothing this much. The CIA agent turned on the faucet, and cool water started to fall. She took a small amount of liquid soap from the nearby dispenser into her hands, and proceeded to wash the blood off.

She rubbed, and rubbed, and rubbed methodically and forcefully until her hands were all red. Not red from his blood now, but from the hispid washing. The blood was all gone. She turned the faucet off, and walked to the far end wall where the paper towels were. She grabbed a few, and dried her hands. After that Sarah rolled the paper, and dumped in the trash can.

She went back to the previous spot in front of the sink. The blonde woman leaned on it with both hands, and looked at the reflection of herself in the large mirror right on the wall in front of her. She looked herself in the eyes. Very, very deep into her own blue eyes for a few seconds. And that proved to be too much for her. She couldn't handle these emotions anymore; she couldn't keep everything locked up for not even one more second. So, right there in a public hospital bathroom, agent Sarah Walker allowed herself to cry.

She cried, sobbed, looked down and up; but after a couple of minutes she deemed enough. She had allowed herself a few minutes of vulnerability, now it was time to pull herself together, and keep going. So, that's what she did. She stopped crying, took a deep breath, and looked at herself again in the mirror. Her eyes were bloated and red.

Sarah splashed some water on her face, and dried it up with more paper towels. She used some of those soaked in water to remove the blood stains from her dress, trashed them, collected Chuck's jacket from the sink, took another long deep breath, checked herself on the mirror one more time to see if she looked presentable, and left the ladies room. Ellie should be arriving, and she had to be ready.

TBC.

A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Anyway, I was going to add a little throwing up in the bathroom for Sarah, and a little mascara running; but decided it was a bit of an overkill, and kinda gross. So, I left it out. Just a backstage of writing info for you guys lol