Thanks very much for the reviews! And a thanks to my editor, Alisa!
Everything happened in a blur for Mac. He could feel the pain in his body and hear Don and Danny yelling his name. But he couldn't answer. He saw their faces hovering over him as they told him to stay awake. They pressed their hands against his two bullet holes; the entry hole in the back and the exit hole in the chest.
He couldn't answer them. He couldn't move. Could only blink and try to figure out if it was really happening. Had he really just been shot in his own home? Had he just been held hostage by Peyton for hours? Was this not just a horrible dream? Blood was oozing from him so it had to be real. But he couldn't be sure.
Two EMT's showed up. They placed an oxygen mask on his face. They talked him, but now he couldn't hear anymore. He could just see their lips moving. He tilted his head to the side and saw Peyton's lifeless body on his living room floor. Then he turned his head and looked at the roof as he was put on a gurney and lifted up.
He blacked out for a moment, but came back in the ambulance. He still couldn't hear, speak or even feel at this point. He was blank. He could only focus on one thing and suddenly his face appeared in front of him; Horatio. He tried to reach out a hand and touch him, but found that he was unable to move his arm that was strapped to the gurney. He called for his lover. Called for him to stay awake.
Then the face faded away and he heard the EMT ask who Horatio was. Had he called his name out loud? Did Horatio know what was going on? Would he ever see him again? He started getting tired and closed his eyes just as the ambulance pulled up to the ER.
Don and Danny were right behind the ambulance. Several police cruisers were making way for the ambulance so it could get to the hospital as fast as possible. Don was driving like a maniac and Danny had to hold onto the door handle like it was a lifeline. Neither man spoke; they were too focused on praying that Mac would live. They couldn't imagine what it would be like if they had to tell Horatio that his lover was dead. No! They couldn't think like that. Mac was a marine and a fighter; he would never give up and he would certainly not die today!
When they arrived at the ER, they jumped out the car and followed the EMT's and doctors as they wheeled Mac inside. They were shouting out orders and as soon as machines were hooked up to their boss they could hear the noise they were making.
His blood pressure was too low, his heart rate too low, he was barely responding and he had lost a lot of blood. Danny and Don were only allowed to stay outside the room and watch as the doctors tried to save their friend's life. Sheldon joined them minutes later and watched in silence with them. He wanted to rush in and help, but knew that he wasn't allowed to and that he could end up doing something wrong because he was too close on this one.
When Mac's heart stopped the three men felt like passing out...
-I-
Stella was nervously pacing at the airport. Horatio wouldn't arrive for another hour. She dreaded the moment she had to tell him that Mac had been shot and was in the hospital. Lindsay was with her, but she managed to remain somewhat calm and she was in contact with the boys at the hospital on the phone. So when the color drained from her face Stella knew it would be bad. She slumped down on a chair next to Lindsay and could see tears threatening to fall from the younger woman.
"Please tell me it's not..." Stella whispered.
"He's in cardiac arrest. They're working on him." Lindsay said quietly and tears started to fall.
Stella took a few calming breaths. She had to stay strong. She silently prayed that whatever higher powers there was they would let Mac live. She got up again and started pacing. She could not lose Mac. He was her best friend. If Peyton had been alive Stella would have shot her by now for putting Mac in danger. It seemed like an eternity, like time had stopped when Lindsay finally got another call.
"Well?" Stella asked when Lindsay hung up.
-I-
All three men breathed a sigh of relief when Mac got his pulse back. What had felt like an hour had only been a few minutes. Danny instantly called Lindsay to tell her the good news. Well, as good as they could be. Mac was not out of danger yet. A doctor came out and he was covered in Mac's blood.
"We're taking him up to emergency surgery right now. It doesn't look good, but he could have been a lot worse. The bullet nicked his lung, but other than that it passed through nothing but tissue and some muscles. However, he lost a lot of blood." The doctor said, "So if he makes it through surgery, the next 24 hours will be critical."
All three men nodded and then Mac was wheeled passed them to be taken to the OR. The doctor left to go with his patient, while Danny, Don and Sheldon remained frozen to the floor. They couldn't move. They could only watch as their friend and boss was taken away.
"He died." Danny said, "He actually died. He came back, but for a few minutes he was actually gone. I never want to go through something like that again."
Sheldon and Don could only nod in agreement. Eventually a nurse led them to the waiting area and told them where to the find the cafeteria. They didn't have a scene to process in Mac's home, as the night shift would take care of that.
Now all they could do was wait...
-I-
In Miami Rick Stetler found himself pinned against a wall in the department parking lot where the cameras couldn't see what was going on. Frank had his arm pressed firmly against Rick's throat, but not enough to choke him. Calleigh had a hand on her gun, while her free hand had Rick's wrist twisted so he was in enough pain to be uncomfortable.
They had received a call from Stella just twenty minutes ago and she had told them that before Mac got shot he had said that Stetler was Peyton's contact in Miami. Now, they had no real proof of that, because despite Adam's good work he had been unable to trace anything from Peyton's computer directly to Stetler. And they had no warrant to search Stetler's computer for proof either.
However, this had made Frank and Calleigh pissed enough to pay Rick a little visit and that's why he was currently in a very uncomfortable position and without any way of getting help.
"So, you're the one working with that bitch Peyton Driscoll, huh?" Frank asked.
"Who?" Stetler asked.
"Give it up, Stetler! She told Mac that she had sent information about Horatio to some IAB guy in Miami." Frank growled.
"And the only one that hates Horatio enough to want that information is you. Besides, you've already revealed that you know things you couldn't possibly know without some help." Calleigh said.
"So what? It's not a crime to do some research about the head of the crime lab." Stetler smirked.
Frank pressed his arm harder against Rick's throat and smirked as the other man choked a bit. He then leaned back a little and watched Rick pant for breath. Normally, this wasn't something Frank or Calleigh would do, but since Mac had been shot they were all on edge and Stetler was involved, which made them very angry. Mac getting hurt meant that Horatio was hurting too and they would do anything for Horatio.
"You can't prove that I have done anything!" Rick growled, "That Driscoll woman could have sent information about Horatio to any other IAB detective here, or even a former IAB detective. It doesn't prove anything."
"You just said that you had researched information about Horatio." Frank growled.
"No, I said that it's not illegal to do it." Rick said, "I never literally said I have done it."
Frank growled and punched Rick in the face. Rick fell to the ground and then Frank pulled him up again. Calleigh looked around to make sure no one was there to witness anything.
"I can have your badges for this!" Rick exclaimed.
"And who in their right mind would believe you? And let's face it, no one likes you here Stetler." Frank said, "We could do a lot of harm to you and no one would help you."
"Piss off!" Stetler growled, "You should be careful about messing with me. You may think that I'm weak, but I can do a lot of harm."
"Is that a threat? Because that can most definitely earn you a suspension." Calleigh said, "And why not throw in a little sexual harassment with that? And it would be your badge that is gone!"
"Okay, fine." Stetler said, "I was in contact with Peyton Driscoll. But I had no idea what she had planned to do in New York. All I wanted was a little information about Horatio."
"You had better not plan to do anything with that information or you will find yourself six feet under before you can even blink." Frank warned.
He let go of Stetler and smirked as the other man rubbed his throat and his sore lip. Calleigh and Frank walked away and heard Stetler mutter something about getting them fired. Once Frank and Calleigh were in the elevator on their way up to the lab, they looked at each other.
"Thank God no one was around to see what we did." Calleigh said, "This was very unlike us."
"Well, he hurt someone we love as family; he can't get away with that." Frank said, "And I'm talking about both Mac and Horatio. Mac is family too."
"I know. I just hope he has learned his lesson." Calleigh sighed.
"Knowing Stetler... it's very unlikely." Frank said.
-I-
It was Horatio's worst nightmare to see Mac in a hospital bed. That's why he stood frozen outside Mac's room in the ICU. He had just got out of surgery and was so far stable, but unconscious. When he had arrived at the airport Stella and Lindsay had told him that Mac had been shot and that he gone into cardiac arrest for a short time. Horatio had since then switched from being angry and sad every now and then. Not knowing if he should yell and throw something at someone or just cry.
Now that he saw his lover with machines hooked up to him and unmoving he felt tears running down his cheeks. He had dreamt many times of things like this. And to have a nightmare come true felt horrible.
"Do you want me to go in with you?" Stella asked softly.
Horatio jumped a little and looked at her. He could see that she was also crying. He nodded and opened the door. Together they approached the bed where his lover lay. Horatio stood on one side of the bed and Stella on the other. Horatio grabbed Mac's hand and kissed it.
He leaned down to his ear and whispered something that Stella couldn't hear. But she could see the pain in those blue eyes and knew that if Mac didn't make it, Horatio would die with him. Horatio sat down on a chair and Stella did the same on her side of the bed. She could sense that Horatio didn't really want to talk, so she remained quiet. Ready to listen when the redhead was ready to say something.
Every now and then a nurse would come in and take notes in the chart and make sure all the wires were connected from the machines to Mac's body. Horatio never moved and never said word. He was in deep thoughts and exhausted. Stella was exhausted as well, but knew she had to stay strong for both Horatio and Mac.
Usually Mac and Horatio stayed strong, they were the two toughest men she knew. But now they needed their friends to be strong for them.
"I can't live without him." Horatio whispered.
Hours had passed without him saying a word, so at first Stella wasn't sure if she had actually heard him.
"You won't have to." She said.
"How can you know for sure?"
He sounded almost like a scared child asking mom or dad how they could be sure that there wasn't a scary monster under the bed at night. Stella wanted to hug him and tell him that everything would be alright. But the truth was that she was just as worried as he.
"I don't know. But I have to believe it." She said honestly.
Horatio just nodded. Stella had never seen Horatio so defeated and so sad before. Not even when he and Mac had been attacked by a group of homophobes not long ago. But then again she had never seen Mac so severely injured so all of this was new.
"Visitor hours will be over soon." Stella said.
"I want to stay."
"You know they won't let you." Stella said, "You can sleep at my place tonight."
Horatio sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He nodded his thanks and just then a nurse came in and told them that they had to go home. It broke Stella's heart to hear Horatio plead with the nurse to let him stay. However, the nurse had rules to follow and as much as she wanted to allow the redhead to stay, she couldn't.
With heavy footsteps and with a goodbye kiss on the cheek Horatio followed Stella outside. They walked in silence out of the hospital towards her car on the parking lot. Neither said a word as Stella drove them to her place. And once they got to her apartment, they couldn't sleep even though they were exhausted.
"How can I sleep when he's alone in the hospital?" Horatio asked, "I wish I could be by his side. If something happens tonight and I'm not there I will never forgive myself."
"Nothing will happen. He's stable." Stella said.
Horatio could only nod. He felt lost. Like he didn't know where to go, what to feel and what to say. He knew Stella felt the same, even though she tried not to show it. They sat in her living room just thinking and with the occasional short conversation for hours before they both feel asleep when they couldn't keep their eyes open anymore.
-I-
The next day Horatio went to the hospital alone. Stella had been forced to come into work and help IAB with their investigation. Horatio was surprised to find Danny outside Mac's room. The young man looked nervously at Horatio when he approached him.
"Danny. Why haven't you gone inside?" Horatio asked, "Is there something wrong with Mac?"
"No, I just... I never had the chance to really talk to you yesterday." Danny said.
"I know. I'm uh... I'm not really myself right now." Horatio said.
"I know, but um... I'm sorry." Danny said, "I'm sorry that I got Mac shot. He tried to save me and if he hadn't pushed me out of the way that bullet would have hit me. It should have. I was the intended target."
Horatio shook his head and put a comforting hand on Danny's shoulder.
"Danny, none of this is your fault." He said, "Peyton did this. It's all on her. You would have done the same for Mac had it been the other way around."
"Yes." Danny whispered.
"Don't blame yourself." Horatio said and then said with a darker tone, "It's all Peyton's fault."
Danny heard the tone and knew that it was a good thing Peyton was dead or the Miami Lieutenant would have caused her a lot of harm by now. Danny opened the door and entered the room with Horatio.
"I can only stay a little while. Then I have to head to the lab and give my statement about what happened." Danny said.
Horatio nodded. He sat down on the chair just like yesterday and grabbed his lover's hand. Danny sat down on the other side and jokingly told Mac to wake up and stop sleeping. Horatio smiled at that. He could still see that Danny carried some guilt for what had happened, but he hoped the younger man would let it go before it started to eat him up.
After half an hour Danny had to leave and Horatio was left alone with his lover. He kissed Mac's hand and squeezed it softly. He started talking to Mac about his thoughts during the last few days about moving in together.
Just when he finished talking he felt someone squeeze his hand softly. He looked at Mac's face and in that instant his heart went back to being in one piece again.
"Hello love." He smiled.
Mac gave him the smallest of smiles before closing his eyes again. Horatio kissed his cheek and pressed the nurse's button to tell them that Mac had opened his eyes and was no longer unconscious.
-I-
It was lunch hour in the lab and almost all lab techs and CSI's were either having lunch or out on a crime scene. Rick, however, was lurking around in the lab. Since the team had found out that Mac Taylor had survived getting shot and even woken up earlier in the morning, Rick had been in a very bad mood; snapping at everyone he met. Now he was in a much better mood.
The lab was empty as far as he could tell. He carried a few case files with him and a small plastic cup, hiding under the files. He wanted to make sure that the cameras caught him going to the office with nothing other than files. It wasn't very uncommon for IAB to hand the head of the crime lab a few case files every now and then. Horatio just happened to be out of town this time.
He looked around subtly before entering Horatio's office. Rick knew that the cameras would have a very bad view of what he did in there. He approached the very small fridge Horatio had in his office. The redhead had bought it a few months ago to store cold water bottles in it since the break room fridge was almost always full of other things, and water bottles were needed in the Miami heat. The Lieutenant had found a way to make sure his team and himself always had water to drink close by.
Now, there was a risk something could go very wrong now, but Rick would simply have to take the chance. If someone other than Horatio got hurt it wouldn't be too bad, maybe Rick managed to take out the whole team if he was lucky.
Rick grabbed three bottles and unscrewed the cork. He opened his little plastic up and put on some gloves. He poured a little bit of powder into each bottle. The powder wasn't very visible in the bottle. With his plan in action Rick but the bottles back in the fridge and walked out with a big smirk in his face. Now all he had to was to wait for Horatio to come back to Miami and the lab.
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Editor's Note:
I apologize for the LONG WAIT...due to email problems...I was only able to do a 1/2 job on this...and any mess-up's are MY FAULT...I hope to find a way to continue to do editing for this and other stories I'm working on...however, there may be "waits" for "updates...just be patient with us. Thanks, Alisa123