Okay…So who forgot about this story…Yeah, I did to. I am really sorry I left it hanging so long. Thank you to everyone that reviewed! I hope you're all still willing to read this! I'm sure I've already mentioned…I'm not doctor…I did some research but I'm not sure who accurate the medical information is…If it's wrong, then I'm sorry.

Enjoy!

When The Hero Falls

It was the longest 48 hours of Mary's life; she had only reluctantly left Marshall's side to allow his family to spend time with him but she refused to leave the hospital at all. Brandi had decided that it was down to her to make sure that Mary had everything she needed, so she too spent most of her time at the hospital.

Marshall's father and brothers had accepted that Mary wasn't going to relent on being Marshall's next of kin, so instead of arguing with her about it, they just didn't talk to her. His mother followed Brandi's lead and fussed around everyone, making sure they all ate enough and got some sleep; especially Mary. Since their conversation, they had formed a bond and Mary could understand why Marshall was so close to her.

They were all there now along with Stan, waiting for Doctor Nicholls to give them results of Marshall's recent tests. Like Mary had predicted, Marshall had made it through the two days without any more problems and his states even improved slightly. The doctors and nurses all still warned them that there was still a long way to go and not to get their hopes up but Mary would take anything she could get it.

"I wish they would just hurry up…" Mary muttered as she paced around the waiting room.

"He'll be here when they know something…" Rachel told her. "Why don't you try and sit down."

"I can't…" She shook her head. The fear of the doctor coming in and telling them that Marshall's mind was completely gone and that there was nothing more they could for him had haunted her for the past two days. Even when she slept, she dreamt of a future without her best friend and she already knew she wouldn't be able to handle that.

It was another 10 minutes of tense silence before the doctor joined them.

"I'm sorry for keeping you waiting." He greeted and when he gestured to a chair, Mary finally sat down.

"So, I know you must be anxious for news…" He started, taking his own seat. "Well, both the bullet wounds in the chest and stomach are healing nicely …There is no signs of internal bleeding and we already have him on a course of anti-biotic to try and ward off any infections."

"Okay, so that's good…" Mary stated.

"It is but he's still not strong enough to come off the ventilator so until he is, we'll keep supporting his breathing." He continued.

They all stayed silent, knowing that there was more to come. The bullet wounds were serious but it wasn't the main concern.

"Now, we also did a brain scan." He told them and then paused for a brief second. "There was brain activity present."

Mary's eyes widened and she felt someone grip onto her arm but she couldn't look away from the doctor. "What does that mean exactly?"

"I wish I could tell you Marshall stood a good chance of making a full recovery….but to be completely honest with you, it doesn't change much." He admitted. "After everything that he has been through, we are 98 percent sure that Marshall will suffer some form of brain damage."

"But you said there was a brain activity…" Rachel stated. "That means he's still here…"

He sighed. "Yes, there is a part of Marshall's brain that is still working…"

"A part?" Seth repeated but the doctor just carried on talking.

"We cannot tell at this moment in time how bad it is going to be." He told them. "There's a chance he could wake up but there is also a chance that he still might not."

"What exactly could happen, doc?" Stan asked. "What's the best case scenario and what's the worst?"

"Worst is that he doesn't regain conscious again and the best is that with rehabilitation he could return to lead a pretty normal life."

"Wait, so there is a possibility that he could be okay."

"Like I've said before, we won't know the extent of the damage until Marshall starts to gives us some response."

"How long will it be till we know if he is going to response or not?" Marshall's eldest brother, Mike asked.

"Again, it's difficult to say but we're going to keep monitoring him closely and hopefully he's states will start to rise…" He told them. "If they do, we'll take him off the ventilator to see how he does."

"Okay…" Mary nodded but her head was spinning too much to understand any of the information. "Okay, so that's the next step then…Get him strong enough to take him of the ventilator?"

"Pretty much, yes." Doctor Nicholls replied.

"Can I see him now?" She stood up.

"Mary, maybe it might be a good idea to go home." Stan suggested. "Have a break now we know he's doing better…Get some sleep in a real bed…"

She only glanced at her boss before back to the doctor. "Can I?"

"Maybe you should get some rest yourself." The doctor replied.

"I'm fine." She said in frustration. "I'm just sat there…I'm not doing anything!"

"Mary…"

"If it'll make you all happy I'll go home after but right now I need to see Marshall."

Doctor Nicholls looked at the other people in the room and realize there was no one that would be able to get her to change her mind. "I'll ask a nurse to come let you know you can."

Mary nodded once more and sat back down. She leaned her elbows on her knees then rested her chin on top of her hands. She knew that doctor had said there was still a long way to go yet but Mary couldn't get past him saying there was a chance Marshall could lead a normal life. Any other time, any other person she would be realistic and look at all the facts. She had never been known in the past for being optimistic but there was a still a very tiny part of her mind that believed in fairytale miracles. She had thought that part had been long gone, that her father had packed with all his belongings and took it with him.

But then she sat in a dusty abandoned gas station surrounded by hit-men with Marshall attached to an empty bottle of water.

She found herself chained to a pipe, knowing she would have to fight just die with dignity then when she had given all had left, she felt strong, comforting, familiar arms wrap around her; helping to keep her on her feet.

So, she couldn't help but believe in miracles because she learnt a long time ago, Marshall Mann made them happen.

XxXxX

When Mary was finally allowed back in to sit with Marshall, she looked at him closely wondering whether it was her imagination or he actually looked better than before.

"Okay, partner…Listen up." Mary took her seat and automatically reached for his hand. "You got through the past 48 hours…now all you need to do is rest up….get that brain of yours back in order so when you're ready to wake up, you'll be the same geek we all know and love."

She looked around the room at all the machines flashing and beeping. Although, she had no idea what the machine were for, she had spent enough time in there to know that the steady rhythm a good thing. Thinking about all the TV shows and movies she had watched; when a character had flat-lined, how during the chaos of nurses and doctor rushing around the relative or friend or whoever was in the room at the time was pushed out over shouts of protests and declaration of love. She had no idea what she would do in that situation. There was no way she could walk away when he needed help but she couldn't handle just standing there and watch him die.

"Don't ever put me in that position, Marshall…" She whispered, taking for granting that he would know what she was talking about. "I don't care how long it takes you or how much help you need…Even if you need taking care of for the rest of your life….I'll be there for you every step of the way so don't go thinking about taking the easy way out just for my sake…We'll get through this together….That's what partners are for."

XxXxX

It was five days later, when Mary felt his finger twitching; at first she thought she had dreamt it but as she stared down at their joined hands, praying to some kind of movement, she got her wish. The doctors and nurses down played it, telling them all not to get too excited just yet.

More tests were done and Mary was getting frustrated. They seemed to always be doing test but never told them anything new. All she knew was that his condition was stable, his states were very slowly improving but he still wasn't strong enough for the next step.

So after almost three week since the shooting took place, when Doctor Nicholls called them all together and told them, they were going to attempt to take Marshall off the ventilator, Mary could have kissed him. She wanted to dance around the room and say 'I told you so' to everyone that doubted Marshall but instead she just asked if she could be there when they did.

She stood back and watched from near the door with Rachel by her side as the doctors worked; Mary knew they were also prepared in case it did not go to plan and Marshall flat lined. She waited, her breath held and her hands clenched together tightly, listening closely to the irritating yet reassuring beeping of the heart monitor.

After the doctors had finished and explained what would happened next, it left Mary and Rachel stood at the side of the Marshall's bed.

Rachel smiled softly and stroked Marshall's cheek gently. "Now that's tube gone, I can see his handsome face…"

When Mary stayed silent, Rachel turned to look at her and was surprised when she saw tears rolling down the younger woman's face.

"Mary?" He reached out and placed a hand on her arm. "Oh honey…."

She shook her head. "I'm sorry…I don't know why I'm crying…I just…I thought…"

"Thought what?" Rachel ran a hand up and down her arm, soothingly.

"It's stupid."

"I'm sure it's not…"

"I guess, a part of me thought that when they took him off the ventilator, then he get better…"

"He is getting better." Rachel stated. "Remember what they said a few weeks ago…Remember how they talked about letting him go? But you wouldn't let them…You had faith in him and look at him now…"

"I just…I want him back."

"Look, you're tired…You've barely been home since this has happened…You haven't eaten in god knows when…" Rachel told her. "You need some rest, so I'm kicking you out of here…"

"But…"

"You're no good to Marshall if you end up in hospital yourself." Rachel took her hand and led her to the door. "Go home…Get some sleep…Eat some food."

"You'll call if anything happened?"

"Of course."

Rachel stood in the doorway and watched Mary walking slowly down the corridor. She did wonder whether she should ask one of her boys to make sure she got home okay but they hadn't got off on the right foot with Mary. Deciding, she probably wouldn't even accept an offer of a ride, Rachel returned to Marshall's side.

"That girl would charge into hell after you with nothing but a single bucket of water…" She squeezed Marshall's hand. "Why you both wasted some much time hiding your feelings, I'll never know."

XxXxX

Mary was relieved to find her house empty and immediately crawled into bed; not even bothering to change out of her clothes. She slept longer then she had planned to but when she did wake up, she did feel a bit more human.

By the time she had a shower and was halfway through some cold pizza she found in the refrigerator, Brandi and Peter arrived home.

"Mary, I didn't know you would be here…" Brandi said when they entered the kitchen and saw her. "Has something happened?"

"They took him off the ventilator."

"And?" Peter questioned.

"And….it worked…or whatever…" Mary shrugged.

"That's great!" Brandi grinned. "So, what happens now?"

"More waiting." She replied, not knowing what else to say…Even though Doctor Nicholls had ran through the next step with them earlier, Mary had not really been listening.

"Well, I'm glad you're home." Brandi continued. "You needed a break…Can I get you anything?"

"No, I'm good." She stood up and put her plate into the sink. "I'm going to sit by the pool for a while…"

"Mare?" Brandi called after her. "Are you sure you're okay?"

She sighed. "I'm just tired of the waiting…It's exhausting."

"Maybe you should go back to work for a few hours a week." Peter suggested. "Try getting back to normal."

Mary tensed at the suggestion; how could work be normal without Marshall there?

"I can't…Not yet."

Mary had not been to work since this had all happened. Stan had been understanding; told her to take as much time as she needed but she was sure he wasn't expecting this. Every time, he brought up returning, she would have an excuse ready why couldn't. She knew he was struggling even though there were three temporary Inspector there to help out and that head office must be wondering why she was taking so much time off….It wasn't as if they were married…They were just partners…just friends….She should be able to work.

She was pretty sure she was going to have to sit down with Shelly Finkal after all this was over with.

She sat down on the edge of the pool so she could put her feet into the water and wondered why she was willing to put her career on hold for Marshall but not Raph. Maybe it was because Marshall would never ask her to but Raph expected it just because they were engaged.

In one quick motion, she pushed herself of the side of the pool and into the water fully clothed…She couldn't start thinking about why she was doing what she was doing. She couldn't start comparing Raph to Marshall.

After a few seconds of floating under the water, she came up for some air and found Brandi stood watching her with the phone in her hand and tears in her eyes.

"Mare…"

"Brandi, what is it?" She swam towards and climbed out the pool.

"Marshall's Dad just called…"

Her eyes widened and she swallowed the lump in her throat. "What, Brandi? What did he say?"

"You got to get down there now…"

"Brandi, what happened?"

"He opened his eyes…Marshall opened his eyes….He's awake."

TBC

Okay, this chapter moved things along a bit quicker! Please review and let me know what you think!