Half an hour had passed since the SWAT officers all reunited in the stark waiting room. Half an hour that seemed Luca a whole day. The palpable apprehension on Street's condition hovered in the air, making the atmosphere even thicker than it already was for the usual sanitizer smell that permeated the hospital rooms.

Luca got up from the chair, his legs were restless. In front of him, Chris had not moved a single muscle since the moment the whole 20-David settled in. Could she really control the tension so much better than him? Of course, Chris was the squad's most skilled sniper while Luca always had his foot on the accelerator, but all that calmness put even more pressure on him.

"Did the doctor tell you how long it would take?" Luca asked, diverting Chris' attention from the floor.

She shook her head.

"But it should not take long, right?" Luca walked around the small room. "As far as I know, draining an abscess should not take all this time."

"I'm not a doctor, Luca. And neither you are, so sit down and be patient." Chris glared at him, her eyes red, then she quickly lowered her head again. "You're driving me nuts."

Luca sighed; what he previously thought was a calm attitude was, instead, shock. Who could blame her? He recalled Chris' words describing to the rest of them Street's state when the nurses took him into the OR. He recalled the broken voice she tried to hide and how hearing that made his heart clash.

"Is it possible that they can tell us anything?" Luca sat, shaking his head.

"A nurse told me that the abscess is in a difficult position," Hondo said. "Give them time, no one here wants to see Street passing again what he went through in the last few days."

"Or things to be even worse..." Chris added under her breath.

Luca got up again and moved to the door, sneaking his head out. No one who could brief them was in sight, but he decided to stand by the door anyway, waiting for someone. Anyone would be good at that point. His look cut through the corridor, the strong, artificial lights hurting his tired eyes. No one came.

Come on, Street. Come on, Luca muttered to himself before turning his focus back to his teammates. It was easy to tell apart who were the ones living on their own from the ones having someone to come home to. In fact, Deacon and Tan were on their phones, most surely talking with their better half, while Hondo and Chris were quietly sitting a couple chairs apart from each other. About Evans, who had just stopped fiddling with his phone, Luca couldn't guess what he was doing. He didn't actually know much about the new guy's private life, and he honestly didn't care that much.

Settling back on one of those uncomfortable chairs, Luca let out a heavy sigh. That stillness was unreal. Even the cocky new guy didn't dare to say a word and break the atmosphere. Luca sighed again, odd to say, and all things considered, it was good to have Evan's support now, despite everything that could go through the two of them.

The time passed slowly. One hour, nothing yet. In turn, the SWAT members would get up, walk by the door, look across the corridor for a while, and sit back down. All in religious silence. Luca could bet that Deacon was actually praying. Chris too, maybe; it was hard to decode her expression since she kept hiding her face in her hands.

Tan interrupted the heavy silence. "Do you remember that time when we were chasing robbers though the park, and Street smashed one of the bad guys on the top of a eight-years-old kid's birthday cake?"

"And then he hijacked an ice-cream truck to make up for it," Deacon added. "He even paid the bill himself."

Smiles drew on the SWAT members' tensed faces. Street was that guy, Luca could read in each on his friend's look.

Chris sighed "You know, I think he's still in contact with the family..."

"There is no reason to think he won't cause such kind of troubles again," Hondo said.

Now, melancholy crossed the guys' looks.

With the atmosphere only a little lighter, Luca rested on the chair. Street will be fine. He must be, he kept repeating to himself until Dr. Bell entered the waiting room.

All eyes laid on the man in scrubs, his expression was hard to decode. Luca instantaneously jumped to his feet like all of them did. It could be heard a pin drop, not even the sound of their breaths were audible at that moment, perhaps because they were all holding it.

"You can relax. All went good," Dr. Bell declared.

"You mean good like the last time or actually good?" Luca objected.

"The surgery relieved all the pressure on Jim's spinal cord. It will not endanger him anymore, that I can assure you."

The impression that, once again, a 'but' was about to come prevented relief from sitting on the team's faces for long.

"But I can't tell you anything about the condition of Jim's nerves yet, nor if any permanent damage was avoided. Not until he wakes up, and we can run some tests."

Hondo spoke for all, "Thanks, doctor. When can we see him?"

"Jim's in recovery room now," Dr. Bell said. "A nurse will inform you when he will be back to his private room."

Evans was the only one that went back to sit down, the rest of the team stood by the waiting room's door, hoping the nurse would come there soon. On their faces, the shadow of relief was replaced by the consequences of the last words the doctor said, permanent damage. That possibility was every second more concrete, and at that moment, the thought weighed on Luca's heart more than everything.

I need to see him, was the message Luca and Chris exchanged in a look. Seeing him in person was the only way the family had to make sure Street was out of the woods for real.

... ... ...

The first thing that reached Street while coming to himself was the air finally penetrating in his lungs without any problems. The second was that endless beeping in the background, its regular rhythm setting the time of his breaths.

He just had another surgery, and while trying to overcome the numbness of the anesthesia, Street tried to listen to his body and hold on to the hope that his limbs were gonna feel his limbs again.

Blinking out of his dreaming status, Street saw his whole team appearing at his door, not really able to hide their concern with their smiles.

"Hey there, buddy," Luca said as the guys got in.

Street disclosed his lips to greet them, but no sound came out of them. A doubt stroke him, am I still intubated? He let out a feeble sigh. No, he wasn't, but...

Although his mind was clouded, he could read the worry in his friends' looks, which added up to his own. Luckily, he could also feel their support deep down in his chest, always pinched in the familiar hug of his back-brace.

Street's throat was sore, and the image of the doctor choking down in it the plastic tube appeared before his eyes, reminding him of the scary condition he was in only a few hours prior. Well, at least he assumed only a few hours passed; all was still blurry around him.

The guys settled in; Chris sat on Street's bed right beside his laid down body.

Street whined, shutting his eyes, "Ouch... watch out please."

"Sorry, I didn't-" Chris halted and glanced back at the rest of the team. "Wait, what did you just say?" Her voice had something Street could not really identify, hope maybe? Or perhaps just apprehension.

"I asked you to be careful..." Street slowly reopened his eyes. He was still loopy from the anesthesia and asked himself why they were all staring at him so insistently. "You stepped on my leg..."

"Street, do you mean you felt it?" Chris stared at him, then she looked back to her teammates again, their eyes lighting.

"I-I... felt? I felt it?" Street repeated, finally exiting from that state of numbness. "Ow. Oh, Gosh! I felt it!"

A sparkle crossing her look, Chris gently rested her hand on Street's knee. "Can you feel this?"

"I-I do. I feel it." Through the veil of tears that filtered his vision, Street saw big smiles appearing on his friends' faces. They weren't pitied smiles, nor encouraging smiles. No, this time, they were genuine and sincere; there was a light in their eyes that proved all that.

"I can feel my legs again!" Street tried to slightly lift his torso and see in whole his lower extremities, but the back-brace made his movements difficult, and his abdominal muscles couldn't properly obey his will yet. Abandoning himself again on the mattress, he let a whine escape from his mouth.

"Calm down, we'll get someone to take a look at you," Hondo said while Chris gently pushed Street back down, and Tan promptly sneaked out of the room to claim for a nurse's assistance.

"Hey, did you see that?" Luca drew the team's attention on Street's feet. "Do it again," he said, slightly rolling up the sheets to uncover his friend's toes.

"Do what?" Street had once again closed his eyes, the anesthesia slowly dissipated, and his back was starting to hurt badly.

"Your foot, it moved. I saw it." Luca eagerly said. "Move it again."

"I..." Street hesitated, the fear he could disappoint his audience mounted in his heart.

But he had to try if anything to prove himself he could do it. Street took a deep breath and concentrated on his fingers. He had to concentrate very hard because his body was still insensitive and sore, but finally, his big toe slightly flexed.

"I knew it!" Luca clapped his hands, always keeping up a giant smile. "I knew it!"

Street heavily abandoned his head on the pillow again. Yes, he was in heaven for gaining his sensation back, but damn, it also meant the pain doubled now.

"Too much, too soon, guys. Too much, too soon." Hondo made his men step back, they were getting too over-excited. "Come on, let's leave him some space," he continued as a doctor got in to check on his patient.

Street observed his friends going out one by one, impressing their happiness in his heart as a useful tool to counter the pain. It was so good to see them all there. All plus one, actually. Standing by the door for the whole time, there was this black-haired guy he had never seen before. He must be my replacement, Street thought. Enjoy your time on 20-David, Evans, I'm coming back for my spot, he repeated to himself while a little tear slowly descended his cheek.

... ... ...

The SWAT members unhurriedly got out of Street's room, but not before throwing a last peek back at their friend, now peacefully resting on his bed. Chris' heart exploded in joy; Street could feel his legs, he could move his toes even. He had a solid chance to come back to the team soon.

"I knew he could do it!" Luca's smile brightened the hospital white hallway. He could not stop hugging his teammates or patting their backs while repeating them how he had always known all would resolve for the best.

Chris smirked. She recalled differently, but she decided to not point it out. She didn't want to ruin Luca's happiness, reminding him of the terror and insecurity he had manifested until ten minutes prior.

With their heart light, the SWAT squad settled back in the waiting room. Before leaving the hospital, they needed to know from the doctor's mouth that their friend was indeed out of the woods and that those permanent damages he had vent before were definitely averted.

Five minutes later, they could finally breathe fresh air again, directed to their cars. The doctor said it was still too soon to tell if Street would recover a hundred percent, but he was confident that with the right therapy, the possibility one day their friend could go back in action with them was not too far away.

Maybe one day... Not strictly encouraging, but for now, that had to be enough. Chris had Street's smile stamped on her mind. The light she saw firing up his eyes when he acknowledged he could feel his legs again paid her off from all the times he tried to shut her out and for all the concern that tangled her heart in the past days.

"All right guys," Hondo said, "go home, try to sleep. Shift starts in five hours."

Chris and Luca crossed their looks. Both of them had adrenaline still flowing in their veins, there was no chance they could get asleep right away. So, properly greeted the others, the two of them decided to stop by a late bar, opened all night.

"What a night, uh?" Luca sipped his decaf coffee while Chris fiddled with her tea-cup.

She shook her head. "I can't believe how fast things had changed."

"Yeah, one minute we are worried about Street never walking again, and thank God, the minute after we're talking about when he will be back on the team."

Chris silently took a sip of tea, she didn't want to ruin the atmosphere, but it was not all that certain that Street recovery would be complete.

"The hard part starts now, right?" Luca said, reading the concern in her eyes.

Chris started unconsciously to play with her cup, staring at the void.

"Oh, come on!" Luca made her look at him, his blue eyes wide. "Street is fine, and he will bust his ass until he can come back to us. Do not ever doubt that."

"It won't be easy."

"Was his life ever been? He is strong, and he has us. Right?"

"Of course." Chris smiled. "I'm probably just tired now, we should-"

"Avoid to show up at the HQ looking like zombies?" Luca smirked. "Yeah, probably we should go."

... ... ...

The flickering light of the sunrise passed through the half lifted blinds and gently caressed Street's skin. Enjoying that warming sensation with his eyes still well-closed, Street inhaled deeply. Not the way too familiar smell nor the wrapping back-brace always present around his chest could distract him from the sensation something good just happened to him.

The last traces of the anesthesia and the new strong pain killers the nurses administered him had made Street sleep like a baby for a few hours after the surgery. With his mind still vaguely clouded, he admitted to himself that he felt as calm as he had not felt in the last nine days.

A thought suddenly struck him. Could that be only a dream?

Fearing to open his eyes, Street moved his hands down to his thighs. Relief filled his heart when the signal his legs sent in response to the contact reached his brain. He could feel it. Then he looked down at his body and concentrated. With a little effort, one of his feet slightly moved.

Smiling, Street released a sigh he didn't know he was holding back. It was not just a dream. His lower limbs were still numb, but he could feel them again. Bad news, his back started again to send him shocks and waves of pain, unexpectedly and for no apparent reasons.

Street took a deep breath; the decision was made. He would not go crying to the nurses, they would fill him with drugs he didn't want. The pain was bad for his recovery, they said, but Street knew that relying on opioids for feeling better was not the right path for him. Considered his DNA, that could be even worse at long terms.

Concentrate on the positive feelings Jim, he ordered himself. You got a little mobility back, that's good. That's so good. He gritted his teeth as another wave of pain invested him. The sting was so intense he had to change attitude, Oh, this is bad, this is so bad...

Street shut his eyes, and with his lower lip trembling, he utterly exhaled. You can do this, he encouraged himself and then started to count the seconds just like Buck taught him when he was a kid to control the pain and the fear.

I can do this. Street rhythmically breathed in and out, his mind had to be stronger than his body.

... ... ...