DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

A/N: I'm still reeling from that fateful episode Tuesday night. I'm trying to process it but I'm still having a hard time comprehending why such an event had to happen. There were so many other ways things could have gone down. It was pointless. For my readers that are still with me, reading this story as I move it along, I just want to let you know that Sharon Raydor/Flynn will live on in my stories, I can guarantee that much to you all. I am trying to finish this story but since Tuesday I have been finding myself distracted with grief and mourning the loss of a great character. Bear with me as I continue to write...

Chapter 10

Emily and Ricky waited patiently for their father to show up in the waiting area of St. Leo's hospital. Emily was sitting down on one of the chairs and noticed the people around her waiting to hear about their loved ones. She watched Ricky starting to pace as she wondered where their father was. Just then, the doors opened and Jack walked inside. He looked around the room and saw Emily and Ricky. He walked over to them and Emily stood up and gave him a hug.

"Dad," she took a deep breath as she hugged him, trying to determine if he recently had something to drink. "My ballerina girl, how are you doing?" he asked her as he pulled away from the hug. "Uh, I'm doing okay," she hesitated because she didn't want to tell him that she no longer had a job. He then turned to Ricky and held out his hand for him to shake.

Ricky looked at him for a second before extending his hand and shaking it. "Dad," he simply said as he looked at him. "Why don't we go sit outside, it's less crowded, and we can catch up?" Jack suggested to his kids and they followed him outside to a nearby bench.

"So, tell me, how's your mother doing?" Jack asked them as they sat down. Emily looked to Ricky before she answered him. "Um, she's doing okay, Dad," she told him. "How did she get shot? Isn't Flynn always with her?" Jack snapped as he shook his head.

"Dad!" Emily quipped back to scold him. "Look, I know you and Mom don't get along anymore, but really? Do you have to be like that?" Emily pleaded, which made Jack re-think his statement. "Sorry," he mumbled. "So, really, how did your mother get shot?" he asked again.

"She told us they were investigating some robbery ring and went to one of the person's apartment buildings where they were shot at," Emily started but Jack placed his hand on her shoulder to stop her from going further. "Robbery ring?" he repeated as he looked at her and then glanced at Ricky.

Meanwhile, back in Sharon's room, Doctor Yu was explaining the latest blood test results to her and Andy. "We still haven't seen a change in your platelets count," she explained and Sharon took a deep breath. "Meaning?" she asked as she held Andy's hand in hers. "This is a mild case, Sharon, and we are confident that your spleen needs time to heal from the bullet fragment. What were are going to do is monitor you right now, and in two weeks, we will schedule you to come back for another CT scan of your spleen to see if it shows normalcy by then," Doctor Yu explained to them.

"Is this dangerous?" Andy asked as he looked at Sharon and then at the Doctor. "With this mild form of Thrombocytopenia, or low platelets, no. We are monitoring for any sign of internal bleeding, and given the tests that were run earlier this morning, there are still no signs of internal bleeding, which is good," Doctor Yu explained as she drew a picture on the dry-erase board on the wall.

"The only thing right now is that you may bruise more easily, and if you cut yourself, it will bleed more," Doctor Yu explained to them and Andy looked at Sharon with worriedness.

"Let me explain to both of you what it is we are looking at," she told them and then she stepped to the side of the board so that they could both follow her on the explanation. "Because you had trauma to your spleen, your body reacted to it by enlarging that organ. We've seen it before in many cases of trauma and when given proper time to heal itself, the spleen usually goes back to regular size," she drew some arrows on the board.

"Inside your spleen, platelets are formed, we need platelets to help our blood clot properly, otherwise we tend to bleed easier," she stated. "When the spleen is enlarged, it causes the platelets to get trapped inside, which in turn, causes the low count in them," she continued.

"So, Sharon needs to rest for the next two weeks then, is that correct?" Andy asked the Doctor hoping that she would back him up in that discussion. "Yes, no heavy lifting, no driving, and no going to work," Doctor Yu informed them. Andy sat back and looked at Sharon who pursed her lips when the doctor told her she couldn't go back to work yet.

"We are going to keep you overnight for more observations, and then, I believe Doctor Fishman will release you tomorrow morning, pending everything is okay," Doctor Yu informed them both and Andy nodded. She then left the room and Sharon let out her breath she didn't realize she had been holding.

"Hey, it's not the end of the world," Andy whispered to her as he looked at her and saw tears in her eyes. She shook her head. "What if it stays enlarged, or what if internal bleeding starts and," she tried catching her breath. Andy placed his hand on her arm and tried calming her down. "Sharon, we're in this together, one step at a time, remember?" he told her. "Besides, you are going to stay home and follow the doctor's orders," Andy made sure she knew that.

She gave him a look, equivalent to almost Darth in style, but then it faded into pure love, because as she looked at him, she saw the love in his eyes and thought that was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. She smiled and he returned her smile as they waited for her kids to return from seeing Jack.

Outside, Jack, Emily, and Ricky were still talking. Emily and Jack were sitting on the bench, while Ricky decided to stand up and lean on a nearby tree. "So, what's this I hear about you not getting the lead role for the next production?" Jack asked Emily. Emily looked at her father and wondered where he had heard that. "Uh," she started to say but he interrupted her, answering her questioning look.

"Ricky told me," he muttered as they both glanced across the pathway to look at Ricky. "Well, I didn't get the part, but something may be in the works, and I just need to see how it will work out," Emily explained to her father. "Something in the works? With the same dance company?" he wondered as they sat there.

Emily looked at her father. "I just have to wait and see, Dad. I don't want to jinx myself," Emily smiled and Jack patted her shoulder. "Okay," he said as he glanced at his watch. "Well, I am due in at court in an hour so I need to get going," he stood up and faced his children.

"Emily, it was nice seeing you. Please let me know what happens, with everything," Jack hugged her and then pulled away. "Ricky, you take care," Jack shook his hand and then gave them both a wave as he walked off.

Emily waited until their dad was out of sight before slapping Ricky in his shoulder. "Ouch!" Ricky yelled as she did that. "What was that for?" he rubbed his arm. "You told Dad that I'd been cut?" Emily questioned him. "Well, he called one day and I really didn't have anything else to say to him," he shrugged his shoulders as they walked back inside the hospital.

After taking the elevator back up to their mother's floor, they both step out and walk towards her room. Ricky stopped Emily about half way and looked at her. "Do you think Mom is going to be okay?" he asked her in his serious voice. Emily paused for a moment, looking at her brother. She saw the worriedness on his face. "Yes she's going to be fine. She has to be fine, now come on, before they think Dad took us away," she continued to walk towards the room.

They entered the room and saw Andy holding their mother's hand as he sat next to her. Sharon turned to see them as they walked in. "So, how was your visit?" she asked them both. Ricky shrugged his shoulders and walked over to the other chair in the room and sat down. "It was fine, Mom," Emily answered her as she watched her brother.

Emily then looked at her mom and at Andy. She could tell something was up. "Did we miss something? Was the doctor here?" she sounded concerned. Sharon looked at Andy and he nodded to her. "The Doctor is going to release me tomorrow morning, they are keeping me for observation one more night," Sharon told them.

"Oh, well that's good news then, right Ricky?" Emily looked at her brother as he stood up and joined her at the foot of their mother's hospital bed. "Yes, that's good news Mom," Ricky said, trying to cheer their mother up. "Um, well, yes and no. You see," Sharon started to say but then she looked at Andy.

"What your mom is trying to say is that," he took a deep breath before continuing. "Her spleen is enlarged, and the doctors are a little concerned about that because it is causing her platelet count to be on the low side. The doctor is releasing her tomorrow morning, but she has to take it easy for the next two weeks, no work, no lifting, just rest," Andy explained to them as Sharon wiped a tear from her eye.

"Oh, Mom!" Emily looked at her and sat down on the other side of the bed, careful not to mess up the IV lines that are there. She lightly touched her right hand. "It's going to be okay. I can stay with you for the two weeks, if you want, just to help," she told her and that made Sharon cry. Sharon shook her head. "I'm sorry I'm crying," she said as Andy gave her a Kleenex to use. "Mom, it's okay, really," Emily and Ricky said in unison as they watched her wipe her tears away.

Meanwhile, Sharon's lunch arrived in the room and the person placed her tray on the tray table. "Thank you," Andy said to them as they left the room. "Your lunch my dear," Andy removed the top on Sharon's tray to reveal her lunch. A lean chicken breast, green beans, and some orange slices were awaiting her.

Sharon sat further up in the bed after she had made herself look presentable again. Emily moved the used tissues and stood up, moving out of the way. Andy moved the tray table over Sharon and she looked at her food.

"Mom, I think we are going to leave now," Ricky stated and Emily looked at him. "Oh, are you sure?" Sharon asked as she cut up her chicken and ate. Both of them nodded. "Do you need us to get you anything? We can go to the store or something if you want," Emily asked them and Sharon looked at Andy.

"Um, yeah, if you could go to the store, get some groceries. Here is a list of food the dietician dropped off this morning that they say will be good for your mother in her recovery," Andy handed them the piece of paper. "Oh, and here is some money," he reached into his wallet but Ricky stopped him. "It's okay Andy, we got this," he assured his step-father and Andy smiled.

"Could one of you pick up Matthew from school at 2:30 and bring him here?" Andy asked them as he walked out with both of them. "Of course, we can do that," Emily smiled and gave him a hug. "See you later," she said to him. "Andy, about earlier, I," Ricky started and then shook Andy's hand. "Don't worry about it," Andy told him and then he watched them walk down the hallway.

When Andy entered Sharon's room again, she was almost done eating. "Looks like you were hungry," he smiled at her. "If you want to get something to eat, please do so, I'll be fine on my own for a little bit here," she gave him a smile as he stood there watching her. He hated to leave her but she seemed to be doing much better.

He hesitated before he agreed with her. "I'm just going to bring something back and eat it here," he told her and she nodded. He gave her a kiss before he left her room and headed back down to the cafeteria.

Meanwhile, at Matthew's school, the kids were enjoying recess after having their lunch and his teacher noticed Matthew sitting on the swings by himself. She decided to walk over to him. "Matthew, is everything okay?" she asked as she sat down next to him on the swings. He shook his head no.

"You know, I noticed you've been quiet today, in class when we continued our discussion from yesterday on the different types of rocks, you didn't jump in, and you were especially quiet during Math. What's going on?" she asked him as he looked straight ahead at the other kids playing.

"You know my mom's a police officer right?" he quietly responded. "Yes, both of your parents are," she nodded. "My mom got shot yesterday and she's in the hospital right now," he told her. "Oh, Matthew, I'm sorry to hear that. Is she okay?" she wondered and now knew what had been distracting him. "My dad said she will be, but when I saw her last night, she was still sleeping," he hung his head.

"Matthew, I'm sure everything is going to be okay with your mom. I'm sure your dad doesn't want you to worry too much about it," she told him but it seemed like he didn't want to hear what she said. "I'll let you in on something, Matthew," she said and Matthew looked at her. "What?" he wondered.

"My dad was a police officer as well, with the County Sheriff's office, and I remember there were times when I was scared and worried about him just like you are, but he told me that he would always come back home to me and my mother, no matter what happened," she told him the story.

"And did he, always come back home?" Matthew asked. "Yes, he did," she said and then the bell rung for everyone to come back inside the school. Matthew jumped off the swing and waited for his teacher to walk in to the school. "Thank you," he told her, feeling a little better than earlier today as they walked in the classroom and began their afternoon classes.

Back at the hospital, Andy returned to Sharon's room with a salad and found Sharon watching TV. She immediately turned off the TV and focused on Andy and what he was eating. "You didn't have to turn that off on my account," he sat down on the chair next to her bed. "Hmm, there was nothing good on anyway," she muttered as she watched him eat.

"What did you get?" she inquired as she moved her bed more upright. "Just a salad, nothing special," he looked at her as he ate. He wondered how he was going to get her to relax and take the two weeks off like the doctor wanted. Emily was going to stay, which would help, because if she wouldn't listen to him, maybe she would listen to her daughter?

TBC