Chapter 14

Vince had decided that after Lara, he wanted to go and see Heidi. Not because he didn't think others should be able to see Heidi before him, but he was completely exhausted and was advised by his doctor to go home and rest.

Vince shuffled to sit next to Heidi's bed, having been determined to leave his wheelchair by the door. He hated being in that thing, but had been told that it was standard procedure.

He gripped Heidi's hand and shook his head. "I'm so sorry, Heidi. I feel like we failed to protect you." Vince hung his head, unsure of what else he should say. "Heidi, when I saw Mac holding you at gun point, looking so bruised, but still trying to be brave, I was scared. Scared that he was going to fire the gun at you. I didn't care that he might have killed me. That didn't bother me." He patted her hand, the idea of being in the room, with Heidi not being awake yet, almost unbearable for him. "I'll be back to see you tomorrow."

Vince stood and placed a kiss on her cheek. On shaky legs, he turned and left the room, leaving the wheelchair behind. He wanted to leave the hospital on his own steam. Michelle stood when he arrived, having already offered to give him a lift. "Ready to go?" She asked.

Vince nodded. He turned to the rest of the team, "I'll be by in the morning. See you all then?"

The rest of the team waved to Vince and Michelle as they left.

Chase turned to Dean. "Do you mind if I go in?"

Dean shook his head, wrapping his arm around Lara. "No, you go ahead."

Chase smiled and took off down the hall.

Chase

Chase opened the door and closed it quietly behind him. The sight of Heidi lying on the bed, not moving, scared him. A lot. For the longest time, he had felt protective of Heidi. In fact, he had from the moment that she had started at Rescue. She had become a member of his hodgepodge style family. In his opinion, friends were the family that you get to choose.

Chase stared at Heidi for what felt like an eternity. He couldn't seem to find the words to say to her. "I don't really know what to say to you, Heids. I..." Chase broke off his sentence and paced the room, not quite able to sit still. "I guess it's because you can't throw a witty comment back in my face." Chase laughed. He supposed that everyone had already been all sappy with Heidi, but Chase wanted to try and be himself. "So, I don't know if you remember, but there was this time when you and I went out on a rescue, and it turned out to be a guy, dressed in the clown suit? He was dangling from the electric tower?" Chase laughed a little to himself. "When I'm not feeling well, I always remember that." Chase approached her bed and stopped. "Maybe you can think of that when you need something to smile about." He patted her hand, not sure what he should do or not do. The last thing he wanted was to hurt her. "You're going to be fine, Heids. I know it." He left the room almost as silently as he had entered it, his heart lighter than it had been in days.

Dean

Dean had traded spots with Chase, wanting his chance to see Heidi. He felt awkward approaching the bed, but knew that Heidi would just laugh at him if he told her that. "Heidi," Dean started as he approached the bed. Dean opened his mouth to continue, but found himself unable to speak. He hadn't been in this position many times before. In fact, Dean had always been able to say just what he was thinking. He wasn't an overly emotional guy, but for some reason, the women that he worked with, Lara and Heidi, brought out emotions he didn't know he had. He sat in the chair by her bed, his head resting on his hands.

"Heidi, I have never seen Jordan more afraid than he was these last couple of days. You guys really seem to have something special, and I don't want you to pass it up. Hang on to Jordan, he's a keeper." Dean couldn't believe how sappy he was sounding. "On the upside of things, Lara and I seem to have become a couple." Dean chuckled, "just took a horrible situation to make it happen. I think I love her, Heidi. I am going to hang on to her like you should hang on to Jordan."

Dean looked at his watch and knew that it was time for him to go. He wanted to go and hold Lara and not let go all night. Normally, Dean knew that he was the love them and leave them type of guy, but something about Lara really drew out his protective side. He just wanted to hold her, nothing more, right now.

He squeezed her hand, and stood to leave, when a slight pressure on his hand stopped him. "Heidi?" He turned to face the bed. "Heidi?" He stepped a little closer and could see her eye lids fluttering.

"Mmmmm..." Heidi mumbled something that he couldn't quite comprehend. Her eyes opened slowly, and she blinked multiple times. "What happened? Where am I?"

Dean looked at her quizzically. "You mean, you don't remember?"

Heidi stared at Dean, "not entirely, no."

Dean stepped away from the bed. "I'm going to get the nurse, and Jordan." He peeled from the room, concern pushing him forward.

He ran out to the waiting area, shouting, "she's awake! She's awake!" He looked everywhere for Jordan. "Where is Jordan?"

Lara pointed to outside, "he's still out there." She rose slowly, "I'll go get him." She walked rapidly down the hall, excited that she was going to be able to give him some good news.

Dean turned and went to the nurse's station, "Heidi Wilson seems to be waking up." He told the nurse, who nodded and paged the doctor.

Jordan

The rain falling matched the tracks of tears on Jordan's face. He just wanted to be able to hold Heidi and tell her that everything was going to be all right. Part of him felt guilty that he was happy Mac was dead. He was harbouring so much anger towards Mac; he didn't quite know where to begin. Mac had nearly taken away the one good thing in his life, but he figured that it wasn't healthy to be mad a dead man.

Pushing off the outer wall of the hospital, Jordan turned around to walk back in, when he saw Lara coming running towards him. He walked through the doors, and immediately knew that something was up. "What is it?"

Lara looked at him, smiling. "She's awake!"

Jordan felt his heart soar as Lara said those words. "Awake? For real?"

Lara nodded and grabbed his arm, "come on! We've got our girl back!"