Author's Note: Hello everyone! Sorry for the delay of this chapter. No excuses, but I am sorry. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thank you all for your awesome reviews, favourites and follows! You guys are awesome!

Disclaimer: Mentalist is not my property. Sad day.

"Well, I have to admit, that's a little disappointing for me. But, got to make the best of it." Red John shrugged.

There was a loud bang from downstairs that grabbed everyone's attention.

"What was that!?" Red John demanded right before the door of the room was kicked in, knocking over the man holding Jane's arm.

Unprepared for the sudden lack of resistance, Jane fell forward hitting the floor with a heavy thud. He could hear a swarm of voices yelling as feet moved quickly around him in a whirlwind of shapes and shadows. He felt slightly dizzy as he tried to get back to his feet. Shots were fired.

"No!" Jane yelled, terrified Lisbon had been shot. There were too many people. Too many voices. Too much movement.

"Jane." Rigsby was suddenly next to him, trying to help him up and support him. "Jane. It's okay. We got you. Just chill for a second."

Jane squeezed his eyes closed, opened them and blinked rapidly in hopes of getting himself to focus better as he looked around and tried to see Lisbon. "Teresa…" "I'll get you over to her, just relax." Rigsby tried to calm him. Things had calmed down and some people had already left the room.

As things came into focus more around him, Jane was aware of Van Pelt's voice. Something about medics and an ambulance. Jane's arms was placed over Rigsby's shoulders as he was lead over to where Lisbon lay on the floor with Van Pelt at her side.

"It's going to be okay." Van Pelt took Lisbon's hand gently. "Medics are on their way, boss. They're coming. They're going help you. Just stay with me." There were tears stinging her eyes, but she didn't want to cry. Not now. Not here. She wasn't the one that should be crying.

Lisbon's eyes blinked slowly, lazily, and she slid her gaze over to look at Van Pelt. "You're a great cop." She managed to force out the words through her tired body. "I was glad Hannigan left. He was sort of a pain in my ass. Don't tell him that. I'm so lucky I hired you in his place…I thought you should know that…" The corners of Lisbon's mouth were turned upwards in the smallest hint of a smile and tears escaped her eyes, despite her not wanting them to.

"Thanks." Van Pelt smiled.

"Hey." Rigsby said gently as he lowered himself and Jane on the opposite side of Lisbon.

Lisbon shifted her gaze to him. "I confess. I drank the last yogurt drink of yours in the fridge. I was so sick of water and coffee and strawberry is my favourite. I'm sorry."

Rigsby shook his head. "It's fine." He choked a little on the words. "I'll just remember not to get strawberry next time." He tried to lighten the mood.

"Teresa-" Jane started, but was cut off as the paramedics rushed into the room, shooing the other three away after getting a brief summary of what put Lisbon in her current state.

"I have to go with her." Jane protested.

"Jane, you're in no condition to ride along in an ambulance." Van Pelt shook her head.

"But she-I can't-I can't let her be alone. I can't." Jane argued as the paramedics loaded Lisbon on to a stretcher to take her down to the ambulance.

"I'll go with her, Jane." Van Pelt told him. There's going to be another ambulance outside for you. Get yourself checked out. If anything happens, I'll let you know, I swear."

"I have to go with h-"

"Either I go, or neither of us go because you were too busy arguing with me." Van Pelt cut him off. "Which is it, Jane?"

"Go." Jane replied quickly.

"Thank you. Get yourself checked out. I'll see you at the hospital." Van Pelt nodded before hurrying to catch up with the paramedics.

"Come on." Rigsby helped Jane stand again. "You need an ambulance, too."

-Mentalist-

Jane's adrenaline had quickly faded while he was being treated. He had suffered through the x-rays and tests they'd put him through. Then he'd answered their questions and done everything else they'd told him to do. A moment arguing with them was another moment he wasn't able to go see Lisbon. They got him all cleaned off, gave him some hospital clothes and then gave him his prescription, a sling for his arm with the sore shoulder and a nurse pushed him in a wheel chair to the waiting room for Lisbon. Jane could walk, but they felt it was better for him to 'relax'. He was supposed to 'take it easy' for a few days. Clearly they didn't understand anything about what was going on with him.

It felt like forever before the nurse got him to the waiting room. Jane had almost snapped at her to go faster, but knew it would get him nowhere, so he clamped his mouth shut. He felt tired and sore, but none of that was going to stop him from being there. Not even close. He saw Van Pelt sitting in a plastic chair and the nurse stopped him next to her chair and left them to their own devices, since there was no one else in the waiting room.

"You okay?" Van Pelt looked over at him, worried.

"I'm fine." Jane replied quietly, shrugging. They just don't want me doing much physical activity. I can walk, but you know doctors. Have you heard anything?" He didn't bring up the fact that he could see she had been crying.

Van Pelt was grateful for his neglect of that topic and replied. "A little while ago they told me she was still in critical condition, but fighting. She needed her stomach pumped and some blood. She's in surgery now."

"Grace." Jane looked at her pleadingly. "I'm so sorry-"

Van Pelt shook her head. "Just-just stop. I'm so sick of us all blaming ourselves for things that happen. Especially you. I really-can we just wait? I'm not in the mood for apologies or niceties or anything like that. I want to sit here and wait for the doctor to come back with some good news soon. Okay? That's what I want."

Jane silently nodded. "May I just inquire about Rigsby and Cho?" He had thought all of them would be here.

"They're handling things with S.W.A.T. and Sac PD and everything. They wanted to come, but it's best to get as much done as we can before she wakes up and thinks she has to take care of everything. And I promised to keep them in the loop." She sat back uneasily, playing with her long hair.

"That would be best." Jane uttered before they both became silent. Jane slowly became very uncomfortable in their silence.

"What happened?" Van Pelt finally broke the silence, not able to brood over the topic any longer.

"Huh?" Jane looked over at her.

"While you two were captive." Van Pelt elaborated. "What happened? What'd Red John do?"

Jane looked down at him knees. He wasn't sure it was a story Van Pelt would really want to hear, regardless of what she might think. "That's going to have a very unpleasant answer."

"Well, tell me the answer." Van Pelt was serious. "I already know it's not going to be pleasant."

Jane thought for a moment, debating if he wanted to tell her or not. And if he were going to tell her; what parts should he leave out?

"Jane?" Irritation was laced through her gentle tone. Clearly, she didn't want to be left in the dark.

Jane looked at her and decided that saying nothing was worse than saying a little. He told her about the creepy friends and the 'game' he'd had to play, but left out any non-essential details.

"Why would he want you to have dinner with him and his creepy friends?" Van Pelt was stumped on that.

"Before 'the game' he wanted us to meet them, I guess." Jane shook his head.

"We caught quite a few of the friends and they'll be going on trial as well." Van Pelt shook her head. "How could they just watch? How could they help?"

"They're sick." Jane replied. "Sometimes there isn't a reason when they do things."

Van Pelt folded her arms and leaned back heavily in her chair. "I guess…Where is this damn doctor!?"

"I'm sure he'll be back soon." Jane told her quietly. "I'm sure Teresa will pull through."

"She better." Van Pelt choked.

"She's a strong woman."

"Can we not-" Van Pelt shook her head.

"If you need to talk, Grace, we can talk. If you're angry at me, you can tell me."

"I'm not mad at you." Van Pelt snapped. "That's not the problem at all."

"What is it?"

"I just need her to live. I really need her to live."

"We all do." Jane agreed.

"Well, she-" Van Pelt stopped herself before she said too much.

"What, Grace?"

"Nothing."

"It's between us, if you want it to be. The others will never hear about it."

Van Pelt glanced sideways at him and knew that if there was a time to voice how she felt, it would be now. "She's like my older sister. I know that sounds really childish, but that's how it is. I admire her. She can't just die. Nothing could be the same, no matter how badly we all try. Change was bad enough when you got her suspended and almost fired. I don't even want to think about what her dying would be like. She has to live."

Jane nodded. "It's not childish, Grace. That's really sweet, actually. I'm worried about how things would change without her, too. She's the person I'm closest to."

The door was opened and a doctor in a white lab coat entered with a clip board. "Lisbon, Teresa?"

Jane and Van Pelt stood abruptly at the sound of Lisbon's name, though Jane winced as his sore body complained. Defiantly, she walked with Van Pelt over to the doctor.

"Friends? Is her family not here?" The doctor glanced around the waiting room.

"We're part of the family." Jane said. "Basically."

The doctor looked at Jane curiously before looking back at his clip board. "She needed her stomach pumped, a blood transfusion and then surgery. It will take a while, but she should recover. So far, she's stable, but fragile. She needs a lot of rest and care. We've got her in a room right now. She'll be asleep for the rest of the night, probably, but you can see her. Just keep the amount of visitors in her room to a minimum. Two at a time at most."

Jane and Van Pelt nodded and thanked the doctor before getting the room number for Lisbon and heading down the hall. Quietly, they entered the room and closed the door behind them and held back the wave of sadness that hit them both at the sight of Lisbon so small and fragile in the hospital bed with tubes and wires all connected to her. A heart rate monitor was beeping away in the corner, completely ignored by the people in the room.

Jane was the first to snap out of it and make his way to Lisbon's bed, sitting gently on the edge and softly covering one of Lisbon's hands with his good one. Part of him expected her to wake up and tell him stop being an idiot and that she was fine, but he knew that she wouldn't.

Van Pelt joined him at Lisbon's bedside and made sure that the covers were tucked around Lisbon properly, fussing over every little wrinkle to try and distract herself from the sad sight.

"You should probably call Cho and Rigsby." Jane said, quietly. "Give them the update. You promised. And it's not the worst news, at least."

Van Pelt looked at him for a moment before nodding and leaving the room, grabbing her cell phone from her pocket.

Once the door closed behind her, Jane looked back at Lisbon, brushing a few strands of hair off her forehead with his not injured hand. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead, letting his lips linger on her skin. "I'm sorry." He whispered in her ear. "For everything. I should have done better, but we need you. We really need you. I know I do. I'll do better, I promise. I won't make the same mistakes again. I will spend the rest of my life making this up to you. I love you, Teresa. No matter how many times you might have questioned that in the past, I do." Tears stung in Jane's eyes and his voice wavered slightly. "I finally got Red John, but none of that will be worth it if I lose you right now. None of it. I need you and I love you. I never wanted to admit that, but now I know how stupid I was to stand on my pride and desire for revenge. I should have told you sooner. I should have held you as close as I could, instead of pushing you away. I never liked pushing you away. You've always been so strong. You can't quit now. Wake up soon. Please. Even if it's just so that you can yell at me and insult me, I'll be happy. I just need you to wake up. I want to hear your voice and see your beautiful eyes. I'll be right here until you do."

Author's Note: That's it for now! Thanks for reading and sticking with me! There will be one more chapter for sure. After that...I don't know. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, shall we? I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please leave a review to let me know what you thought!