Chapter 10

Sara peered into the room where Neal was being prepped for his surgery, nervously anticipating what she would find when she walked in. He lay, motionless on the bed, reminding her of a time not so long ago when she'd sat by his side after that horrible car accident – definitely not a happy recollection. She tiptoed in, although he probably wouldn't have stirred even if she'd barged in accompanied by a mariachi band and she made her way to stand by the side of his bed. His face was scraped in places; probably from where he'd hit the pavement as he fell and whatever wasn't red and scratched appeared white and pasty - almost the same color as the starched hospital sheets.

'Neal' she whispered as she touched his pale face

'I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. I promise I'll make this up to you. We'll find a way to catch this guy and put him away, okay?' she continued staring at his unresponsive features

'The doctors are going to patch you up and you'll be as good as new. You've to get better so you can get the house decorated for the holidays. Some of the guys on the street have already started and I know how much you hate being at a disadvantage' she said, smiling and realizing how ridiculous and frivolous her comments were.

But she knew Neal would be amused if he could hear her and she wondered if, maybe somewhere deep in the recesses of his unconscious mind, he was aware of her going on about the silly contest and smiling to himself.

'The kids and I are waiting for you, so hurry back, okay?' she said as she leaned in to give him a soft kiss on the lips. She recoiled when she realized he wasn't responding – Neal was such an enthusiastic and eager kisser; it seemed strange to feel his lips under hers, impassive and cold. She wiped a tear and glanced towards the door where a nurse was signalling her that it was time for Neal to be wheeled out.

She took a step back and watched as the love of her life was taken away.

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'What happened to Daddy?' Hope asked as she sat with her Aunt Elizabeth

They had just put Liam to bed and were sitting in front of the television, trying to pass the time while they waited for news from the hospital. Elizabeth knew her goddaughter well; she could not be fooled. Trying to downplay this was not the way to go with Hope; she was smart and strong, just like her mom, and she deserved to know the score.

'He was meeting an informant for his job and the person attacked him' said Elizabeth, taking the young girl's hand in hers

'Is he going to be alright?' Hope asked, worried

'The doctors at the hospital are doing everything they can for him' El answered then added 'I'm sure we'll be getting some news soon'

Hope just sighed. She loved her daddy so much and she wanted to see for herself that he was alright.

'Do you think I could stay up with you and wait?' she asked of her godmother as she tried hard not to give in and cry

'Tell you what' responded Elizabeth 'Why don't we get your pillow and blanket and you can lay here on the couch and keep me company?'

Hope gave her a small smile. She didn't think she could handle being in her room by herself right now and she welcomed El's presence by her side. It was one thing to be brave and not be scared of the dark when her mom and dad were sleeping right next door but whenever things went off-kilter even the slightest bit, Hope still had difficulty coping.

She nodded enthusiastically and ran up to get her things from her room.

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'Have you got anything?' Peter asked into his phone as he sat in the OR waiting room alongside Sara

'I promised to keep you posted' said the officer on the other end of the line 'There was DNA on the knife although we don't have any matches in the system. We can certainly do some testing if we get enough to identify a suspect'

'Anything else?' asked Peter as Sara studied his face

'Not for the moment, we're still trying to find out who put in the call to the police. It wasn't the vic that's for sure' he responded

'Whoever it was might have been an eye witness to the attack' Peter said

'One can hope' agreed his colleague

'Thanks, Chris. I appreciate it' Peter said as he hung up

Sara looked up expectantly. Although she and Peter knew with utmost certainty who was behind the attack, getting proof was going to be something else – hell, just getting Williamson to re-surface was going to be a challenge.

'Well, he left prints on the knife handle' he said as he looked at Sara, her face pale and drawn

'Peter, you've got to let me draw him out. I can't see any other way' said Sara

Peter looked at her disapprovingly – it was his least favorite option. But he was beginning to agree that using Sara as bait might be the only way to get eyes on this guy. Although amateurish as far as criminals went, he'd been going about his business undetected for the better part of a week and they had no leads as to where to find him. Neal, however, would never forgive him if he agreed to this scheme; there was no way on God's green earth that he would ever agree to have his wife used in that way.

'I can't do that, Sara...' he began

'Why not? You do it all the time... Neal does it all the time. Every time you guys go undercover... You could put a wire on me, back me up... I could see if he'd meet me at my office – there's lots of places for you to watch from there'

'Sara, stop!' Peter said, his voice a little louder 'It would only take a second for him to pull a knife on you. Look at Neal, he's got lots of experience but he didn't have any time to react to the attack'

'He probably didn't recognize him at first. I'd be ready...' she began

But she knew as Peter did that if Craig wanted to hurt her, he most definitely could. The alternative, however, was unthinkable – having Craig running around town, lurking, getting more and more angry and frustrated and more and more volatile. What if he decided to take one of the kids or worse yet, hurt one of them. They'd been through all that with Keller and there was no way she was putting Hope in that kind of danger, not when she was still so fragile.

'Neal wouldn't need to know' she said in a last ditch effort

Peter rolled his eyes. Of course Neal would find out; he always did. Peter didn't have the same skills at deflection that his best friend had and he knew that Neal would never forgive him for going against his wishes. They had to somehow find another way. Peter grabbed for Sara's hand feeling her anguish seeping through. The first step was to make sure Neal was alright, that he would recover – then they could turn their minds to how they would deal with Craig Williamson.

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Craig sat in his small apartment, phone in hand and continued calling Sara's work number incessantly. He'd been calling for the past hour, hanging up only to dial again and again and again, repeating the same thing over and over: begging her to talk to him, to come away with him, to put this ugly mess behind them. Tears ran down his face as desperation set it; maybe he'd gotten it wrong somehow, maybe Sara didn't love him anymore. He let out an audible gasp at the thought; no, surely that couldn't be true. She was his, they were meant to be together and they would be even if he had to take her away forcibly. Over time, she would realize for herself that they were meant to be together, forever – after all, they were perfect for each other.

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Peter and Sara had been sitting for almost two hours on the most uncomfortable (and decidedly ugliest) orange plastic chairs provided for them in the OR waiting room. Sara continued to pace sporadically, walking back and forth to the window overlooking the streets below. The lights of Brooklyn sparkled in the distance as life went on while the man she loved fought for his life a few feet away. They had gotten news about thirty minutes before that although the surgery was progressing well, the doctors were having trouble controlling Neal's blood loss. There had been an inordinate amount of blood in Neal's abdominal cavity and this had caused unforeseen complications. Sara wrung her hands nervously as she continued to pace.

Peter sat, quiet, stoic, as he continued to work out scenarios for a resolution to this situation. He agreed with Sara; the situation couldn't be allowed to continue. Craig Williamson was a loose cannon of the worse kind – a man who wasn't grounded in reality – and he could surface at any time to do just about anything without concern for his own well-being let alone the safety of those around him. That made him a ticking time bomb.

He thought again about Sara's proposal. He knew she was smart and ballsy and he believed she could probably pull off such a scam. If they equipped her with a one way communication device, as they'd done with Neal dozens of times, they might even be able to get a confession and if she could lure him to her office, they could be standing by right next door, ready to break in at a moment's notice. It could work... but then again, there was the matter of Neal agreeing to such a scheme.

Sure, Sara was her own person, capable of making her own decisions but she and Neal had an understanding and even 'risk-taking Neal' would never have carried out an undercover operation without running it by her, although he had been known to camouflage some of the risks involved. On a couple of occasions, Peter had witnessed Neal pull out of an op at his wife's behest, once when Sara was pregnant with Liam and she'd begged him to pull out and another time when he'd realized himself that the risk was just too high that he could get hurt. To carry out such a scheme behind his best friend's back would be perceived by Neal as treason and Peter didn't see how Neal would ever forgive him.

Sara was not thinking straight if she thought Neal would ever forgive her – she was so focussed on getting the situation resolved that she wasn't thinking of the possible repercussions on her marriage. The trust factor, at times fragile in their relationship, would be forever destroyed if Peter let her do this. Still... it was awfully tempting.

The door to the OR opened and out walked Neal's surgeon, a young man who looked like he was fresh out of high school. He made his way to Sara as she rose again, feeling her knees tremble beneath her.

'Mrs. Caffrey' he said as he took off his mask and hat 'Your husband is fine. We had some difficulty getting the bleeding under control and we still have to monitor him following all the blood loss but the operation was a success and he should come out of this relatively unscathed'

Sara let out a long sigh – 'relatively' unscathed sounded somewhat ominous but at the moment it sounded pretty good and Peter gave her a little squeeze as relief flooded him.

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Hope stirred as she heard Elizabeth's phone buzzing. She was lying on the couch in the family room with her feet propped up on El's lap and while her aunt dozed, head back against the couch. El grabbed for her phone, holding her breath as she prepared to get the news on Neal.

'Your dad's going to be fine, sweetheart. The doctors operated on him and he's alright' said Elizabeth as she held the little girl

At this, Hope let go of all her fears and she began to sob loudly as Elizabeth drew her near.

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Peter and Sara sat, on either side of Neal as they waited for him to come to following his ordeal. The sun was just beginning to come up over the horizon and he'd been out of surgery for a little over two hours when his eyes fluttered open and he looked from Sara to Peter as he came to, remembering where he was and why.

His eyes flickered, he drew in a shaky breath and looked again at Peter, then at Sara as he spoke, his voice weak, barely a whisper:

'Do it' he murmured 'Get the son of a bitch'

TBC