A very weary but relieved-looking Steve Keller walked into the waiting room a little after 4 a.m. Healey was the first to notice, and he barely suppressed his enthusiastic "Hey, Steve!" in the otherwise silent room. The others snapped awake.

Haseejian jumped to his feet and approached their younger colleague. He took Steve's arm and led him to an empty chair as the others gathered around. "How are you doin'?" the Armenian detective asked gently. "How's Mike?"

Steve rubbed a hand over his stubble, unable to conceal a happy smile. "He's doing great, he really is. He's sleeping right now but when he wakes up, we'll have you guys in to see him."

"He's really doin' okay?" asked Healey with a worried frown.

"Dan, he's doin' terrific, really. I sorta knew he was gonna be okay in the ambulance," Steve said with a slight chuckle.

"What do you mean?" asked Tanner with a confused smile.

Steve chuckled again. "He overheard the attendant telling me they wouldn't take the vest off until they got him into Emergency and Mike asked me to tell them not to cut his suit off because he'd already lost one a few weeks ago."

The others laughed, more in relief than anything else. "Yeah, he's okay," Haseejian nodded, as he slipped an arm around Steve's shoulders and squeezed. They sat in companionable silence for a few moments, then Haseejian said to Steve, "Say, you're supposed to get your wires out today, aren't you?"

Steve nodded, "Yeah, but I'm gonna ask them to postpone it. I don't wanna leave Mike right now. I can wait a few days."

Healey snorted. "Mike might not like that," he said with a smile. "Why don't you let him decide?"

Steve looked at Healey quizzically, seeming to think about it. "Maybe you're right, Dan; I'll tell him the decision is his – he'll like that." Steve smiled slightly, then let his head drop, and he took a deep unsteady breath. When he looked up, there were tears in his eyes, and he stared at Haseejian and Healey. "I want to thank you guys for being there tonight, I don't know what I've would've done if you weren't there."

Haseejian, perched on the arm of Steve's chair, glanced guiltily at Healey and then back at Steve. "We should've been there sooner. We followed you guys from the shop, because Dan lives, you know, close to Mike, but when you turned onto De Haro, we almost went on. But Dan had this bad feeling," he paused and looked at his partner and Steve followed his gaze.

Healey cleared his throat self-consciously. "I don't know what it was, Steve, but ever since we left the shop in the rain, I just had this feeling. I told Norm that I thought if Garrity was gonna do something, it would probably be tonight, you know, in the rain, when none of us was expecting anything…" He paused and sighed sadly. "We shoulda been closer behind you, then we might've seen him get out of his car or whatever he did to get so close to Mike so fast."

Steve put his hand on Healey's forearm. "Dan, I don't think there was anything we could have done, we were just unlucky tonight. But I'm so grateful we were able to convince him to keep wearing the vest." He smiled up at them then looked at his watch. "Look, ah, I'm just gonna get a coffee and go back in."

"You're not going anywhere until he gets out of here, right?" Haseejian asked with an appreciative smile.

Steve snorted self-consciously and cleared his throat, then nodded slightly.

Haseejian held out his hand. "Give me your keys. We'll stop by your place and pick you up some stuff. I'm thinking Mike doesn't really need anything, right?"

"Yeah," said Steve sardonically, "I don't think he's gonna be brushing his teeth much in the next couple of days. If you could bring my electric razor, I can use it on him if the doctors say it's okay."

Haseejian took a deep breath. "Look, we probably can't get in to see Mike for a few hours, right, so Dan and I'll go home and grab a few winks and get changed, pick up some stuff from your place and be back here to see Mike sometime later this morning, okay?" He glanced at Healey and received a confirming nod.

Steve smiled. "That sounds great, thanks. And thanks to all of you guys for hanging in here tonight, Mike'll appreciate it."

Haseejian, suddenly unable to restrain himself, hooked an arm gently around Steve's neck, avoiding his jaw, and pulled him close, planting a big kiss on the top of Steve's head as the others laughed.

"Steve, we wouldn't be anywhere else," Healey said, his voice cracking. "You can't imagine how relieved we are that things have turned out like they have. I honest to god thought we lost him tonight." He looked up at his partner. "Come on, you crazy Armenian, let's get out of here."

# # # # #

On a bed raised at a 45-degree angle, hooked up to a 12-lead electrocardiogram and a three-lead heart monitor, an IV line in his left arm and his face obscured under an oxygen mask, Mike Stone lay eerily still, the large bruise on his chest a disturbing deep purple. The recent still-red scar stood out vividly on his right shoulder.

A cardboard coffee cup in his hand, Steve slipped quietly back into the ICU cubicle and into the armchair, once more taking comfort in the regular beeping of the heart monitor. He glanced at the rhythm strip that constantly emerged from the electrocardiogram then back to the bed, surprised to see Mike's eyes slightly open. He stood and leaned over the bed, grinning happily. "How are you feeling?" he asked quietly.

Mike blinked, his eyes moving slowly in Steve's direction He nodded sluggishly, a slight smile appearing under the oxygen mask.

Steve put his coffee up on the side table and began to take off the mask. "They told me I could take this off to make it easier for you to talk," he explained as he gently stretched the elastic and eased the mask upwards. He laid it on the side of the bed.

"It still hurts like hell," Mike whispered slowly and carefully, trying not to take a deep breath.

"Yeah, well, the pain medications can only do so much," Steve commiserated. "But, hey, it could've been a whole lot worse." He smiled.

Mike smiled back. "Yeah. I, ah, I want to apologize…about the vest. Thanks for being so stubborn."

"Well, I learned from the best, right?" He laid his right hand gently on the top of Mike's head then smiled again. "We both need a shave."

They stared at each other for several seconds. Eventually Mike asked quietly, "It was Garrity, wasn't it?"

"Yeah."

Mike closed his eyes. Steve stood straighter, removing his hand from Mike's head. He picked up his coffee and took a sip. Mike opened his eyes again and smiled. "Hey, I forgot, you're getting your jaw unwired this morning, right?"

Swallowing, Steve shook his head. "I'm gonna ask them to postpone it so I can stay here with you."

"No," Mike said with as much force behind his voice as he could muster, "that's dumb. I'm not going anywhere and it's here in this hospital, right?" On Steve's nod he continued, "Go, please, for me. I want to see you wire-free." He chuckled carefully, smiling.

Grinning himself, Steve nodded. "Alright, alright, I'll go. It should only be a couple of hours anyway; they told me it takes about an hour to take off the wires and bands." He rubbed his eyes and laughed quietly. "I hope Norm gets here in time with my electric razor. I'd rather not show up looking like I spent the night on the street."

"The fellas are here?"

"Yeah, Norm, Dan, Bill, Lee; they've been here all night. Rudy turned up an hour or so ago. I think they're all gonna go home for awhile then come back to see you during visiting hours. So far they're the only ones that have shown up – I don't think word has gotten around to everyone yet."

Mike frowned. "Aw, I don't want everybody here," he groaned, "it's not like I was shot, for god's sake."

Steve looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Really?" he said sarcastically, looking pointedly at the wires and tubes attached to the bedridden man.

"You know what I mean."

"Well, it's out of my hands," Steve chuckled. He paused, then asked quietly, "Are you gonna call Jeannie?"

Mike cleared his throat carefully. "I, ah, I've been thinking about that. I really don't want to, especially not after we didn't quite tell her the truth the last time." He closed his eyes and winced, and Steve laid a hand on his forearm. "Let me decide that in the next couple of days, okay? She's not expecting to hear from me anytime soon."

"That sounds good to me. Do you want some ice chips?"

Eyes still closed, Mike nodded.

# # # # #

Paperwork in hand, opening and closing his now free jaw slightly, Steve strode into the waiting room on his way to ICU and stopped abruptly. Olsen, Haseejian and Healey were sitting in the corner. Steve changed direction and approached them with a smile. "What are you guys still doing here?" he asked pleasantly, then froze at their grim expressions. "Rudy, what's going on?" he asked slowly, trepidation suddenly colouring his voice.

Olsen glanced up but couldn't seem to speak.

Haseejian stood and approached his junior colleague, laying a gentle hand on his forearm. "Sit down," he said quietly.

"Norm..?"

Haseejian glanced at Healey then turned back to Steve. "They've taken Mike into the OR."

Steve's world suddenly narrowed, his vision now a point right before his eyes; blood pounded in his skull and his knees buckled slightly. He had to swallow before he could ask breathlessly, "What happened?"

Haseejian's head dropped and he seemed to try to pull himself together. When he looked back up, there were tears in his eyes. "His heart stopped."