Thanks for all the love y'all! Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!


Shock.

Shock was the main emotion in the room. There was also anger, lots and lots of anger and it was all directed at the General standing in front of them. The General stared at the dumbstruck faces in front of him, his own anger growing. "Well? Is anyone going to tell me about my son?"

Major Braddock was the first to snap out of his stupor, his anger at the current situation overwhelming the shock he was feeling. "Your son is in surgery, with the best possible surgeons working on him. I think the better question here is what the hell are you doing here?! You're supposed to be dead!"

"Well, as you can see, that's clearly not the case."

Major Braddock glared at his brother. "Cut the crap William. Your son was shot at YOUR funeral and I think you know why, so start talking, and screw the 'need to know' crap."

The General stared at his brother for a moment then sighed and sat down in a nearby chair. The entire room's attention was on him. "Most of you know, but for those of you who don't I've been in Kandahar off and on for the past few months. While I was there, I started receiving threats. We did not know at the beginning who was behind the threats, so we started investigating. As the threats became more frequent my team discovered that they were being sent by an underground group of insurgents. It's a small group and they work on their own. As the threats became more serious and we began intercepting messages that described some of their plans, I decided that we needed to do something."

Jules stared at the General, mouth gaping and eyes raging with anger. "You planned the plane crash?!"

"Yes, I did. The plan was to let them think that they succeeded with their threats in an attempt to draw them out."

Ed was so furious his response came out almost as a growl. "You purposefully planned AND faked your death… You put your family through hell!"

"I know, but I needed their reactions to the news to be genuine. Had they known the truth, it wouldn't have worked."

Everyone in the room scoffed. Natalie looked her father dead in the face. "How could you do this to us?! We thought you were dead!"

"I know that."

Natalie gave the General a confused and pained look then shook her head in disbelief. "Oh my god. Dad!"

Mrs. Braddock looked at her husband while tears streamed son her face. "Why William? Why?"

"It wasn't an easy decision Elizabeth, and I wasn't just doing it for my safety. I was doing it for yours and the kids' safety as well."

"Our safety?!" Natalie practically shouted. "Do you see where we are?!"

Spike, seeing Nat distressed, put a hand on her shoulder and looked at the general. "If you knew you were in danger sir, why didn't you put a protection detail on your family?"

The General sighed. "I overestimated the insurgents' tenacity."

Greg stared at General Braddock. "Wait, are you saying that the people who were threatening you are the same people who shot Sam?"

"Apparently the insurgents found out that I was alive and decided to try and get to me in a different way."

Silence filled the room as everyone took in the newly acquired information. The past few days had been a whirlwind and everyone in the room was struggling to come to terms with everything; first the General "dying", then Sam being shot and finally the general coming out of hiding to reveal that the people behind his reason to play dead were the reason that Sam was where he was. The silence in the room stretched on. Everyone was so lost in their own thoughts and emotions that they didn't even notice the wary looking surgeon walk into the room. His exhausted yet professional voice brought them all back to the present. "Sam Braddock's family?"

Everyone stood and moved closer to the doctor, all hoping for good news, all hoping that Sam was still with them. The surgeon gave a quick glance to each one of them. "I'm Dr. Knox and I was the lead surgeon in Sam's operation. Let me start off my saying that Sam made it through the surgery. He's currently stable, but that could change at any time. As you know, he was shot twice in the chest. The first bullet did the most damage; it tore through the pericardium, nicked the right ventricle and grazed the superior vena cava before lodging in the sixth posterior rib. The second bullet hit and lodged his left lung, causing it to collapse and producing a pneumothorax. We were able to repair the damage done to his heart and reinflate his lung. We put a chest tube in to help with the pneumothorax and that should be coming out in a few lost a lot of blood and we're continuing to give him multiple transfusions." Dr. Knox paused to give the group a minute to process everything. The pale and fearful faces of the people in front of him pulled on his heart strings. "The paramedics lost him once in the ambulance and we lost him twice on the table. I don't know how he survived, but he did. He's one hell of a fighter. Take solace in that."

The news about Sam was hard to take. The extent and severity of Sam's injuries was heartbreaking to his team and his family, but the fact that he was still alive gave them all hope that everything would be OK.

"We have him on oxygen to help with his breathing and we'll be keeping him sedated for a while so his body can heal. He will be in the ICU overnight and, barring all complications, we'll move him down to the CCU in a few days."

Everyone relaxed a little at Dr. Knox's update. Sam was alive. Recovery wise, he had a long way to go, but he was still alive. Major Braddock stepped forward and shook the doctor's hand, thanking him for saving his nephew's life. "Can we see him?"

"In an hour or so, once we get him moved out of recovery and into an ICU room. You won't be able to stay for long, but I can allow a few of you to see him for a couple of minutes. I'll have a nurse come and get you when Sam is settled."

"Thank you doctor."

Dr. Knox gave a nod towards Major Braddock and the rest of Sam's loved ones, then left the room. Major Braddock took a deep breath and turned around to face the others in the room. Everyone looked relieved, but the anxiety was still the dominant emotion in the room. "Well, I guess we should use this time to figure out who's going to go in and visit Sam."

"Obviously we'll all be going in," the General said as he motioned to Natalie, his wife and his brother. "We are his family after all."

Ed furrowed his brow and looked from Greg to the General. "With all due respect General, I don't think it's the best idea for you to go in and see Sam."

"WHAT?!" The General raged. His face turned an unnatural shade of red and his eyes burned with fury, all directed at Ed. "He is my son! How dare you tell me I shouldn't be allowed to go in and see him!"

"Would you shut up and listen for a minute, please? I did not say you shouldn't be allowed to see your son, I just said that it might not be best for you to see him at this time." Ed looked at the General, keeping his face calm in an attempt to placate the military hot-head. "Think about General. Sam was shot while giving the eulogy at your funeral. He thinks you're dead. If he happens to wake up while you are in there visiting him, and he sees you, it's going to completely freak him out and he does not need that kind of stress right now."

"Officer Lane is right William." The General turned his fury to his brother, who met and held his harsh gaze. "I think it would be best to wait until Sam is awake, alert and stable enough to handle all of this before he sees you."

"I can't believe this! Sam is my son and he's in the hospital. I need to see him. I'm GOING to see him."

"William-"Major Braddock started to argue his point again, but the General cut him off.

"NO! I am going to see my son, and if Sam just so happens to wake up while I'm in there then so be it. Sam's tough, he'll be fine."

"General, there's no doubt that Sam is one of the toughest people I know, but even the toughest, most badass soldiers have a weakness, and for Sam, that's his family and the people he loves." Greg gently mentioned, attempting to talk to the General father to father rather than Sargent to General. "I think, no, I know that your 'death' affected him more than you think it did."

"Sam was a wreck dad. He tried to hide it but…" Natalie gave a small smile as she talked about her brother, but the smile did not reach her eyes. "He's not as quiet as he thinks he is when he can't sleep."

The rest of the room smiled at Natalie's comment, but the General's glare remained unchanged. "This is ridiculous. He is my son and I am going to see him."

"No, you are not." Elizabeth Braddock looked at her husband sternly, unshed tears still brimming her eyes. "You will not see Sam until he is stable enough to handle all of this."

The General glared at his wife and sighed, knowing that for the time being, he had been beat. A nurse came into the room and asked everyone to follow her. She lead the down the hall towards the ICU where they met Dr. Knox outside of the double doors. Dr. Knox dismissed the nurse and looked at the group of his patient's loved ones. "We're going to go through these double doors and down the hall to Sam's room. Have you all decided who's going to go in?"

"Yes sir," Major Braddock said as he stepped forward. "It's just going to be us three." He gestured to Elizabeth and Natalie, who had stepped up next to him.

Dr. Knox nodded. "Very well. You three will go in and the rest of you can look in through the window."

Everyone nodded their consent; everyone except the General, who just hung back from the group and sulked. Dr. Knox opened the doors and led the group through the hall until they got to Sam's room. He opened the door and let his family in while his team, Commander Holleran and the General looked in from the window. Seeing Sam for the first time since the shooting was hard on everyone. The current condition of the normally bright, strong and positive sniper brought back everyone's feeling of anxiety. His face was pale, there were deep purple circles under his eyes and he had an oxygen cannula under his nose. There were multiple bags of fluids on his IV pole and his chest tube, though partially hidden by the bed sheets, was still visible. Sam's entire torso was wrapped in stark, white gauze and the leads to his heart monitors could be seen poking out. Sam looked awful and the only comforting thing was the constant, steady beeping of the heart monitor. After a few minutes, Dr. Knox exited Sam's room with the Braddocks following behind him. "I'm sorry your visit couldn't be longer, but we do have rules and procedures to follow."

"Of course, Dr. Knox. We completely understand." Greg said as he stepped away from his team and looked at the doctor. "That being said, we have rules and procedures as well. Since the person or persons responsible for Sam's shooting has yet to be apprehended, we would like to have some sort of protection detail stationed outside of his room until the suspect or suspects have been caught."

"Of course," Dr. Knox replied, understanding the need for security and protection. "We can have an extra security guard brought up here and stationed outside of his room if you'd like."

"Actually, doctor," Commander Holleran began, stepping forward to stand between Greg and Major Braddock. "I have multiple SRU officers lining up to volunteer to watch over Sam. We take things very serious when one of our own is threatened in any way."

"I completely understand, but because of hospital rules we cannot bring any unauthorized personnel onto the floor after hours, so their shift will have to start tomorrow morning. I'll request an additional security guard be stationed up here for the night."

"Thank you, Dr. Knox." Major Braddock replied as he shook the doctor's hand once again.

Dr. Knox nodded and looked at the group. "Visiting hours are over and you all, unfortunately, need to leave the floor. So, if you'll follow me I'll take you all back to the family room and we'll talk about what the next few days will look like recovery wise for Sam."

Everyone nodded and turned to follow Dr. Knox out of the ICU wing. General Braddock was the last to turn away from Sam's room. He started to follow the group, but quickly turned back around and slipped into Sam's room, desperate and determined to see his son. The General stepped up to Sam's bedside and gently took Sam's hand in his. He gave it a light, comforting squeeze then laid it back down on the bed. The General looked at his son for just a minute longer then turned away and headed towards the door. As his hand reached the door knob, the General was surprised by a quiet and unexpected voice on the other side of the room.

"Ge- General?!"

Surprised, the General whirled around to face the drowsy and pained, but very much awake, eyes of his son. Before he could even respond, Sam began hyperventilating and his heart rate began to climb dangerously high. Alarms sounded as Sam began to freak out and soon nurses were rushing into the room, shouting for different medications and for Dr. Knox.

Down the hall, Dr. Knox had just led the others down to the family room and was answering a few questions before addressing the whole group. Wordy looked around the group and noticed they were one person short. "Guys, where's the General?"

Everyone looked around, confused as to where the General could've gone. Their suspicions were unfortunately confirmed when a nurse came on over the intercom paging Dr. Knox to an emergency in room 317. Dr. Knox looked at the group. "That's Sam's room," he said gravely before turning around and running back to the ICU wing.

The whole group rushed after him, but stopped at the double doors. As the doors swung shut behind Dr. Knox, they were able to catch a quick glimpse of several nurses, doctors and a crash cart outside of Sam's room. The fear and anxiety they all felt hours ago was now back full force. A security guard came out and escorted them all back to the family room, promising them that they would be updated as soon as possible. He left the group with their thoughts, all of which were about Sam and what could have happened. Minutes later, a very sheepish looking General Braddock entered the family room. Everyone stood up and anger replaced the worry on their faces. Seeing the guilt in his brother's eyes, Major Braddock stepped forward. "William? What happened? Where were you?"

General Braddock closed his eyes and turned his head away for a moment before looking back at the anxious and angry crowd. "It's Sam. He uh-"

Before the General could finish, a very angry and agitated Dr. Knox rushed into the room and went straight to the General. "What the hell did you do to my patient?!"